The War Games
by Just Another Indonesian Writer
Summary: U.C. 0115, Ooarai High School of the Side 8 Colonies airspace has just recently accepted the Federation's offer to become their sponsor, thus reviving the once-dormant War Games simulations of the school. How would the girls cope with the sport, and the extra addition of males to their school to fill in the pilot seats? [GuP story retelling with Gundam elements, U.C. universe AU]
1. Chapter 1

"Um, Argus Actual to Argus Two, Mononobe-senpai, uhh, do you have a visual from your zoom modules?"

At the transmission, a single, GM Ground-Type rose from one knee, bringing up the barrel of its NFHI-GMCa-Type 09/180 millimeter cannon along with it. The unit's right leg stepped back to regain its balance, and the weak, rocky soil almost gave away. Said fifty-eight metric-tonnes giant spun his head around, the cyan compound optics scanning every inch of area its sensors could cover, and marched backwards towards a waiting, and also crouching, similarly-painted MS-06JC Zaku II Ground Type Variant JC, which was seen, wielding a 90mm Machine Gun on its hands.

"...Yeah," The lazy, sleepy-sounding voice erupted on the RGM-79[G]'s radio. "Argus Two here... I'm seeing..." The voice was interrupted by a small yawn from the one who replied to the radio. "Two GMs, one Command variant, one Ground Combat Type. Haven't confirmed any other units nearby, though. They're packing... a beam spray gun for the Command unit, and your usual three-eighty mike-mike Hyper Bazooka for the Ground Combat GM unit."

"How about the Priority Targets?" Another voice asked, this time sounding feminine, and much more patient and less stern than the first one. "Are we... going against tanks or hovercrafts?"

The GM rotated its body around again in silence, the only thing that made additional noises were the Mobile Suit's joints and hydraulics, grinding, creaking, and hissing with every that movement the unit did. The head unit of the Ground-combat Mobile Suit faced towards the distance, before plopping itself into a seated position once it's reached a more desirable location. The ground cracked underneath the massive weight of the unit, but the overlooking cliff they were on didn't budge just yet.

Just in cue, a trail of dust was seen near the far reaches of the horizon. The Ground GM leaned its crudely-modified Vulcan-supporting head forward, presumably to assess and confirm the source of the dust. A few seconds of silence later, the GM leaned its back against another cliff face, but its large, field ordnance Weapon pack situated on its backpack prevented it from leaning back any further when it made contact with the dull formation of rocks.

"One M61A4 ' _Effetto Pronto_ ' Heavy Tank, Saint Gloriana colors, visual confirmed. It's right there at the back... it has its flanks covered by its Mobile Suit Team."

An impressed-sounding ' _ooohh_ ' was heard from the radio, as one Federation M61A3 ' _Barsele_ ' Medium Tank, colored in dark-silver came into view. Its twin, 120mm main bores aimed towards the outside of the cliff, directed at the general direction of the opposing group. A chestnut-haired girl was peaking her head out from the armored secondary gunner seat, and another girl, sporting a darker hair and a pair of binoculars planted on her eyes was peeking hers out from the tank's side hatches.

"I'm going to guess that they're baiting us..." The one with the binoculars deduced with a knowing smirk. "Still, managing to hide their full team in plain sight, in which that even from here, the highest point in the area, can't see... what marvelous tactics..." Her wide smirk, only grew even wider at that. " _Damn Feddies..._ " She spat purposefully, gaining her some uneasy looks from the rest of the _Ansaldo_ 's crew, and especially the Tank Commander.

"The biggest threat will obviously be the Ground Combat Type GM. That Bazooka can knock our suits in one shot," The Zaku pilot mused, pointing the barrel of his 90mm machine gun towards the distance. "...My um, Zaku Machine Gun can't penetrate an armor that thick. And we should also take in the consideration that the Command GM's carrying a beam gun. Sure, it'll lose its accuracy in range, but again, one shot is enough to take us out."

The Zaku's mono-eye pink optic turned to its side, witnessing the other Mobile Suit tinkering with the iron sights of its 180mm cannon.

"Uh... um, Mononobe-senpai," He called out to the GM, to which the other unit responded by giving the Zaku a glance back from its compound optics. "Can you try to... um, shoot them from up here?"

The GM made a motion of its head, shaking in negativity. "No," Came the simple, even reply. "I'm an armor-hunter unit, not a sniper. Even my ten-eighty mike-mike cannon can't reach them from up here," He informed with voice one could deduce as being bored. "Ugh, do we really have to fight these guys?" He groaned aloud.

"Hey, but that's where tactics and skill come in!" The girl lowered her binoculars and sent off a disapproving scowl at the GM's general direction. "You Federation scum will never understand things like these," She huffed smugly and indignantly.

The GM silently turned its head to the girl, but the pilot said nothing. The other members of the team laughed nervously, at the tensing situation,with the Zaku II pilot raising its free hand to separate the two from any potential bickering or argument. After a while of separation, courtesy of the Zaku, the RGM-79[G] silently snapped its head back to the distance, still saying nothing on the radio nor aloud from the GM's loudspeaker. The girl just continued to grin smugly.

After the situation has simmered down, the Tank Commander looked over to the open driver hatch. "Well, um," She began, uneasiness plaguing her already soft voice. "Mako-san please wake up. Can you please start up our tank? But be careful, we don't want it to get too loud."

A sleepy hum was the response that came back, and then, the once dormant _Barsele_ 's engines whirred to life, giving off a low, and light, but constant rumble into the air. In cue the Zaku II and the Ground GM stood up from their downed, and concealed position to stand up at their full height. Their once inactive optics now brimming with power, and the low hiss of the Mobile Suit's hydraulics and creaking joints came along to join the tempo with the M61A2.

After the engine of said armored vehicle was primed and ready, the turret first rotated a hundred-eighty degrees to face its back, and then followed by the turn of its main body. It reversed slowly until it was out of the edge of the rocky cliff and then advanced forward, silently prompting the two other Ground Mobile Suit to cover its tail, in which the Zaku II immediately marched after the tank, while the GM lagged itself to observe the surroundings for a few more seconds before joining the rest of its team.

"We'll regroup with the others and then plan our next move," _Barsele_ 's commander told on the radio. "We should be entering their effective radio range soon, since the Minovsky Particles' density isn't too high. Everyone, of the Anglerfish and Argus Team, are you ready?"

" _Que quem quis sempre pode!"_  
" _Audeamus_."  
" _Sieg Zeon!_ "

" _...Panzer Vor!_ "

* * *

"Oh, I can't believe our kid's already going to space!"

A middle-aged male reached his hand out to pat a slightly taller male in front of him, a knowing, and bright smile etched on his face from ear to ear, and even that wide smile of his was barely showing the full extent of his happiness. "Look at him, Shorty, seventeen and already getting himself transferred directly by the Federation's Piloting School!" With his hand keep patting, he added, but this time, turning his head to a much shorter female right beside him. "He's pretty tall too, isn't he?" He laughed in a rather angered tone, for some reason. His pats tightening into a crushing grip instead. "Ahh, you tall piece of shi-"

A hand slapped the middle-aged individual causing him to stop pressuring the shoulder of the much younger teen, and to double over, all while clutching his head. The young male before him didn't exactly react to the things that unfolded at the scene. In fact, he didn't react at all while the older male kept on slapping and the crushing his shoulder bones. He was only giving out a dry, bored, and if not, completely dull look, as if being apathetic about the whole thing.

The slap, was the courtesy of the same, short woman who'd been standing beside the other adult.

"Seriously, how long are you gonna keep that height complex of yours bothering you?" She huffed in disappointment, sending the male a glare. "It's our son's last day here on Earth, and that's what you have to say to him?!" With the female keep scolding her companion, it took her only a few seconds to realize that they're not behaving accordingly in front of their child. "Ohh, little Kenya, we're sorry..." She apologized profusely. "This isn't the goodbye you're looking for isn't it?"

The one, identified as Kenya, blinked his pale brown eyes twice at the question, and then looked around. A lot of men and women, looking within his age's range, also clothed in the same set of attire, which consisted of a tan, military uniform, with some black markings on the shoulder, and a pair of formal, black trousers alongside a pair of boots. With most, if not all of them, saying their goodbyes to their parents. Feeling his gaze has strayed long enough, he glanced back to the older individuals in front of him.

He also scratched his platinum hair, for good measure.

"I don't mind," He replied, voice even and neutral, expression flat, as if giving the impression that he's verbally shrugging.

"You know," The father spoke up after recovering from his earlier assault, now with a new bump on his head, a disapproving frown has replaced his earlier smile. "I still feel that you shouldn't attend Ooarai."

The mother, hearing his disdain regarding the name, gave a sarcastic snort. "Yeah, tell that to the brass, _Colonel_ ," She poked him by the nose, affectionately.

Their son looked uncomfortable at that rather lovey-dovey moment, but kept it to himself.

"...Besides, the Federation already gave the all clear to be the sponsor of Ooarai, right?" She asked for confirmation. "They needed the monetary support, and we need their school's land to conduct the War Games. Come on, it can't be that bad. Kenya'll still be getting the usual curriculum at the Colony. They must've been really desperate though... word is, is that Ooarai used to be a girls-only High School, and it's only because of the Federation's sponsor, that they decided to change the classes to be co-ed, maybe it's for the upcoming War Games too, though, I'm not sure."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about!" The other adult snapped, of course, with all of the activity and the commotion happening around them, one couldn't really hope to hear what he was saying, but his action was already enough to warrant them some strange glances from the people near them. Feeling the uneasy stares landing upon his family, he along with the mother gave an apologetic bow, and the other individuals returned to their routines.

The father, finally feeling the stares dissipating elsewhere, removed the mask that was his face of apology, and wore his deep scowl again.

"...I'm talking about the War Games, Doc," He muttered to his family, sounding both angered and worried at the same time. "Our kid... he didn't have to experience that kind of thing ever. But, those Feddie-Fuckheads insisted that he entered that crap. Now look at him," He pointed a finger directly at Kenya, who again, didn't react. "You, as his mother, and, a doctor, should know about this shit better than I do. An arm, an _entire_ , _fucking arm_ , lost? Just because of this... sport?"

The wife of this man, looked like she's slightly taken aback by his suppressed outrage, although their son, didn't seem to change his facial expression one bit. He did raise his eyebrows.

She sighed warily, and placed a hand softly on the father's shoulder, attempting to cool his fury regarding the matter. "Well, yeah, but ever since... _that incident_ ," She paused, voice going hesitant, especially on the last part, as she also stole a quick look at their son, particularly at his gloved, right hand. "The Federation Piloting School has changed the War Games from being compulsory, to just an extracurricular activity for all students, right? Now, the kids will only have to partake in VR simulations on how to handle the units."

"That still doesn't justify the damage that's been done, Shorty," He looked at the son, with faint glints of sadness reflected on his brown eyes. "It's our damn kid for God's sake. He's..." The older male of the group trailed off, raising both of his hands to his head to let out a groan. "...Look, are you sure he's gonna be fine?" His expression had softened up by the time his hands fell back down. "It's only been a week or two since his rehab, right?"

Kenya sighed, mimicking his father's actions by running a tired hand down from his forehead, all the way to his chin. "Ma, Pa, I'll be fine," He said in a deadpan, waving his right arm around for emphasis.

"See, even he says so himself!" The mother playfully nudged the still stern-looking father with her elbow. "Come on... you've gotta stop being so paranoid. Little Kenya is just as stubborn as you. He won't be kicking the bucket just by playing some kind of sport."

One growl later, the older male released all of his anger with one final grunt of frustration, he finally looked back to his son. "Agh, Goddammit, alright!" He threw his arms up to the air, showing his resignation. "I'm still kind of irked that because of his rehab process, he has to repeat his second year."

"Well, he DID miss his six months worth of school, so I don't find that very surprising," His wive shrugged plainly, before checking her phone for the time, only to recoil slightly back in shock. "Oh crap, It's almost nine," She pointed a finger on her smartphone's screen, looking panicked, somewhat. "I have an appointment at the hospital in ten minutes, so I really have to go now," Despite looking saddened, she gave her son one last smile, and quickly engulfed him with a hug.

In which he gladly returned. "I'm gonna grow even taller to make you look bad, Mom," He spoke quietly.

She sniffed, grinned, and smacked herself away from him. "Always a blunt ass, just like your dad, still, I'm holding onto that, you know! Five point two isn't exactly tall for a boy your age!" She swiped her hand over her own pale-aqua eyes to brush away the tears that've been threatening to fall. "Look, Kenya... before you go," She stepped closer, and stood on her toes to reach her taller son's face, and used both of her index fingers to push his cheeks upwards. "Try to smile more, will you? My baby boy will look much more handsome with that."

Kenya rolled his eyes, and gently pushed his mother's hands away, returning his pushed cheekbones back to their place, and the artificial smile vanished into his usual rigid expression. "Thanks, Mom."

His mother took a few steps back, smiled sadly at him, before turning her back around to whisper something to the father's ears, in which he rolled his eyes, but nodded anyway. After saying her farewells one last time with her son, she marched towards the exit, disappearing into the crowd not long after, leaving behind the old, military personnel along with his son. An awkward silence ensued between the two, at least until the father cleared his throat to gain Kenya's attention.

"You know, your mother's right," He spoke in a defeated voice, not sounding distressed, but obviously none-too-happy. "Maybe I should let you go this time. I mean, you're seventeen now, got some pretty good grades at school, and also a high test score for your Mobile Suit aptitude test," He stepped forward, once again placing a hand on his shoulder. "But I'm gonna ask you this, not as a Colonel for the Earth Federation Forces, but as your dad."

Kenya unconsciously drew his face closer to listen on what he had to say, also unconsciously biting his lower lip behind his closed mouth.

"If you can, just... stay away from the War Games, alright?" His tone was weak, almost pleading. "Trust me, kiddo... I've had my own share of war, injuries, and casualties. But... I just can't face your Mom, if anything happens to you."

The son was silent for a few moments, as if taking in all of the request from his father. In the end, he didn't nod nor shake his head, giving his parent a silent, ambiguous answer.

His father's face twitched before cracking a grin. "Don't disappoint us, asshat," He placed some distance between them, to assume a formal stance. "Cadet, Innokenti Mononobe of the Earth Federation Piloting School."

And his son followed, standing into attention when his father called him by his full name and his rank. "Yes, Colonel."

"I hereby give you permission to board the shuttle for the Ooarai High School, I wish you the best of luck on your studies this year," He snapped into a salute. "You're dismissed, son."

And Innokenti saluted back. "Thank you, Sir."

And in cue, the two took one final, but deep breath, to, in sync, say,

" _Audeamus_."

* * *

"Hey-hey! If it isn't the Crazy Ivan!"

A hand was suddenly slung over Kenya's shoulder prompting him to look at the arm that'd snaked around his neck, and then to the one who called out to him. Reflexively, his hands moved to free himself from the death grip, although to no avail. After trying several times, his arms relaxed themselves, especially when the Cadet's eyes landed upon the picture of another taller student, Caucasian by ethnicity, tall, unkempt black hair, jade green eyes, and dressed in the same kind of clothes he's also wearing.

"Generic White Guy #12," Innokenti greeted back, looking as dull as always, although getting agitated somewhat at his state.

The young adult's eyebrows rose in amusement at his remark. " _Generic White Guy...?_ " He repeated, a light snicker escaping his mouth. "Dude, the rehab wiped your memory or something? It's me, Lukas!"

The platinum-haired boy tilted his head, and then nodded stiffly. "Yeah... Auttenberg... Lukas... Cadet... age seventeen... third year... active member of the War Games extracurricular activity... Engineer," He gasped for air in between words, face going blue by the second due to the lack of oxygen from his choked position. "Can't... breathe..."

The moment he said his surname, Lukas gave an approving and at the same time, uncomfortable smirk, and then used his other, free hand to lightly slap him by the head. " _Yeahhh_ , that much information is a bit creepy, but at least you remember me. Anyway, congrats on your recovery, and just in time for us to be transferred to space, no less, huh?" He let his hands go from the already oxygen-deprived Cadet. "Oh, sorry 'bout that."

Kenya inhaled deeply to satiate his need for air, holding his hand up as if to defend himself from further physical contact. "...But it looks like..." He coughed and wheezed, cutting himself off midway. "...It looks like we won't be attending the same classes this year."

The German blinked, and then snapped his fingers in realization, expression also going somber in the process. "Ohhh, yeah... you have to repeat your second year, because of the therapy, huh?" He rubbed the back of the disoriented student, face radiating sympathy. "Tough luck... and, sorry about your arm."

Innokenti raised his shoulders, and made them to slouch back to a more relaxed posture. "You're the fifty-something guy who says that they're sorry for my arm."

"Gee, I was just tryin' to welcome an old face back to the team," Lukas rolled his eyes. "Either way, welcome back to the fryer, eh, _Argus Actual_? It's good to have a War Games veteran back in action!" He offered his hand for a firm handshake.

At that, the shorter male blinked twice, and hesitantly looked at the offered hand with a slightly conflicted look on dull face. "Yeah... about that... my parents-"

"Now announcing, the final boarding call for Shuttle B16M, destination: Space Colony Ooarai. All passengers please head towards the boarding gate," The sudden announcement that rang through the airport's PA system caught the two students off guard, with Lukas nearly jumping on his spot, while Innokenti just stared at the speaker with slightly wider eyes. "I repeat, now announcing, the final boarding call for Shuttle B16M..."

As the announcement repeated itself, Lukas hummed, and then turned his attention to the shorter student. "Huh, looks like we better get on board the shuttle now, let's go, dude."

"Uh... yeah," Kenya rubbed the back of his head in uneasiness, before his feet followed the movement of his friend. "... _Right_..." He muttered, whilst tottering through the crowd to follow Lukas towards the boarding gate. The German, noticing his slightly lagging state, finally took note of his rather strange movement, especially his right leg, an eyebrow was raised, before his mouth formed an ' _O_ ', and he slowed himself down to let the Cadet catch up.

Lukas then raised his left shoulder slightly, silently offering a gesture to Innokenti that he can use it as a support, to which he declined with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Your leg, did it get hit hard too?" The taller Cadet asked cautiously, not wanting to really delve into the matter any further, but he was just curious.

Innokenti merely lifted his brows. "Oh, this?" He pointed a finger down to his boots. "No, I just sprained my ankle when I wrestled my dad to let me keep Mister Sports on my backpack last night," He replied bluntly and truthfully, with no ounce of lie detected on his usual neutral voice.

There was an awkward silence that followed.

"O-oh... ahaha..." Lukas nervously laughed, feeling that the student beside him might be a look a little too old for his own good. He did wonder how one even manage to get into a brawl, with his own parents, no less, over the decision to bring along a Haro unit with him. "Speaking of which," He trailed his gaze to the floor around them, searching for any hints of the mechanical ball. "Where's that thing anyway? Figured that he would always be by your side, spouting some nonsense regarding our trip or something."

"Mister Sports was mistaken for a bomb earlier, and he's confiscated by the security for further check-ups," The answer easily left Kenya's mouth.

At the easy, and even reply, a large amount of air suddenly got stuck on Lukas's throat, causing the boy to choke lightly. Once again, the German rose a strange eyebrow at him, and then chuckled uneasily at Innokenti's tact, or the lack of it, thereof. The boy was never known for being the most subtle being ever. The platinum-haired boy was instead, well known for his sharp, and frequently blunt tongue, that may come across as just being downright rude to everyone else.

"...R-right," Lukas cleared his throat to free himself from the choked air. "So, where are you planning on staying at Ooarai? Got any relatives there? A brother? An aunt maybe?"

The boy's pale brown eyes wondered elsewhere, before focusing back on his conversational partner. "My parents rented me a small at the colony near the school."

"Living alone, huh?" The German hummed thoughtfully, placing a hand on his chin for emphasis. "Truth be told, the idea of living independently like that has always appealed to me, but I'm staying with my aunt there, so..." He looked over to the line of students in front of them, to see that it was caused by the boarding gate's attendant, checking for their passports' validity. "...Either way, feel free to swing by our place. Sure as hell that it's gonna be lonely out there."

Kenya was quiet for a few moments, before his eyes lit up in mute excitement. "Did you say free food," And to be frank, his sentence sounded more like a statement, rather than a question.

Lukas failed to stop his palm from smacking his face. "Oh, dear..."

"Um," A somewhat, soft voice, cracked from behind them, causing the two students to turn their bodies around to identify the source of the voice. Their eyes fell upon another of the Piloting School's student, Asian by ethnicity, true to his tan, and nearly jaundiced, even, skin, and his pair of slanted, thin dark brown eyes. His black hair was cut short, still unruly by military regulations, but not as long as Lukas's and Innokenti's hairs.

Feeling the sudden gazes that fell upon him, the individual flinched in timidity, his eyes defocused and his frame shrunk slightly to the back, until he hit the other Cadet who was waiting in line behind him. After earning a light, irritated ' _hey!_ ' from the surprised individual, the boy quickly stammered and bowed his head repeatedly in apology. After he was waved off by the student, the Cadet, who looked just slightly taller than Innokenti, by a mere inch or so, turned his attention back to the two, waiting men in front of him.

"Uh, err," He stuttered, trying his best to produce coherent sentences with his shaky voice. "Mononobe-senpai! I, I'm happy to hear about your recovery, and I'll do my best, being under your care this academic year!"

Lukas blinked, and drew himself closer to whisper on Kenya's ear. "Who's this guy?"

"...Iyamamoto, Kenji, Cadet, sixteen-years old, second year, active member of the War Games extracurricular activity, Mobile Suit pilot," Innokenti spoke aloud, whilst moving his hand to shove Lukas's face from his. "We're on the same class this year... right?"

"Gah!" The German engineer yelped when the shorter Cadet's hand pushed him away by the jaw. After recoiling back from the shock, he frowned at his general direction. "Dude, how the hell can you know about everyone's personal information? That's just creepy."

Kenji, after getting his name spoken out loud by the older Cadet, quickly nodded his head several times. "Yes! uh, I mean, uh, Mononobe-senpai, I'm sorry for addressing you so suddenly, it's just that, the school has appointed me to be your wingman this school year at the War Games simulations... I... though I should let you know."

Innokenti placed a hand on his hip. "You can drop the ' _senpai'_ thing, we're on the same year now, anyway... and getting called something like that is really making me uncomfortable," He talked in a dejected fashion. "And, no... I think... I think, I won't be joining the War Games-"

"Ooh, that reminds me!" Lukas slapped his hands together, cutting his friend in mid-sentence. "Hey, good news for you, Innokenti, I've managed to repair your Thunderbolt Sector-use GM from the last tournament! It was hard, reconnecting everything back into place, but it should work perfectly fine now. Just need to attach the shields back to its binders, and it'll all be good to go. Still could use a brand new paint, though. I just don't get it, how you can stand piloting a personal unit, but with its stock paint still slapped onto it."

The shortest individual out of all the three groaned as he also messed his own hair up with his gloved, right hand. "For the last time, I won't be attending the War-"

"Passports, please," The boarding gate attendant's curt voice muted Innokenti's voice in the middle of his sentence, causing the Cadet to glare at booth. The three students however, did, what they're told, and pulled out their passes from their respective pockets. After confirming their filed to be valid, the attendant directed the three to walk pass through the metal detector. "Thank you, please step by that platform, and enjoy your flight."

"Um, what was it that you were trying to say, Mononobe-senpai?" Kenji braved himself to speak up after retrieving his passport from the attendant.

Innokenti brushed him off with a single wave from his hand. "Nothing," He mumbled, sounding like he was holding in some suppressed fury, probably because of the fact that he was cut off for about three times in a row, he then pulled out his smartphone and unlocked the cell with his left hand. He brought the screen to near his eyes and carefully swiped through the screens and selected the music player. After inserting an earphones' cable to the empty port, he plopped the buds to his ears and blasted a track in full volume.

"Uh, okay," The second year uneasily retreated a few steps back from the clearly disappointed Cadet, despite knowing that he couldn't hear him.

Lukas frowned at the amount of volume that went through Kenya's ears, seeing how he could even hear what he's playing through his own ears. "Crazy Ivan's playin' his weird-ass dubstep again," He mused to the Japanese Cadet, feeling somewhat bad for him, being ignored. "I swear to God, this damn part-Ruskie-part-Tojo's habits of listening to his tracks in that kind of volume is gonna be the deaf of him."

Kenji, feeling that he was being addressed to, shifted himself closer to the German. "Um, is... is Mononobe-senpai mad at me, or something?"

The German pointed a finger at the now-silent Cadet. "Him? Nah, he's never angry," He snorts. "It's just that... his social skills are just kinda... lagging from us students. Not like he's constantly angry or anything, but I guess I should've expected him to be this salty, considering he's the son of _that_ Colonel in the Londo Bell's Sixteenth Covert Ops Division."

" _That_ Colonel?" Kenji repeated, sounding somewhat astonished. "You mean, _that_ pilot, the one who piloted _that_ Jegan during the Laplace conflict? Um, but isn't Mononobe-senpai... Japanese? I, I mean, his father was a Russian citizen, right?"

Lukas shrugged, but nodded nevertheless. "Oh yeah... well, the Colonel isn't exactly a man with a family himself, so, when he got married, he changed his surname to follow his wife's. Oh, don't even get me started on Innokenti's bloodline. He's probably got the blood of every single race in him. Just that his Russo-Japanese genetics took up more room in his body. And that would also explain why he has a Russian name, too. Papa-Mama Magic, you know the drill."

"I... I see," The Japanese nodded his head slowly. "Is he... um, always this sleepy-looking, though?" He lifted an index finger towards the wobbly state of the shorter student.

"Huh... how should I say it... Crazy Ivan is... um," Lukas scratched the base of his neck, eyes wondering to look at the shuttle that they're about to enter. "It's not like he doesn't have the energy, he just... lacks the enthusiasm... I think? See that stiff expression of his? Yeah, better get used to it if you're gonna be his wingman, _Argus Two_ ," He teasingly nudged the second-year with his shoulder, earning a surprised squeak from him. "By the way, I'm Lukas, Lukas Auttenberg, one of our school's Mobile Suit mechanic for the War Games simulations, nice to meet a new face on the team," He offered a handshake.

To which Kenji shook it firmly. "Y-yes, I, um, Kenji Iyamamoto, I haven't been assigned to a unit yet for this year's term... but, uh, I will do my best not to slow any of you down."

"Relax, kid. You're doing fine. Argus Team can surely use a friendly face for once. One can't help but to just get scared after constantly seeing Innokenti's face for a while," Lukas grinned sagely at the team's newest addition.

* * *

To say that Miho Nishizumi was not in a good mood, would be a great understatement.

She specifically chose this certain school, on this certain colony, all the way out at Side 8, to avoid the clutches of the simulations.

She did it on purpose so she wouldn't be able to do that thing ever again.

But there she was, along with newly-acquainted friends, namely Hana Isuzu and Saori Takebe, as well as eighteen other female students, standing on the wide-open field of the Ooarai (former) All-girls High School, facing the school's student council board members, who were standing behind a set of large, somewhat abandoned, hangar buildings. Rust and faded paintings took over the gargantuan structures meant to store the arsenal of the things she'd hated the most.

The War Games simulations.

The fact that she chose to enroll to the school to begin with was to avoid the dreaded sport that was once compulsory to some schools all across the solar system, let them be situated on Earth, or in the colonies. Sure, ever since _that_ unforgettable incident at the interschool championships and then _also some_ , all schools, even including main branches of the Federation Piloting Schools had since reduced the simulations to be just a simple extracurricular activity, and the simunitions' lethality had been significantly reduced even further.

But she surely didn't expect Ooarai to just go do something so unexpected, and _revive_ the sport, and force her to join the simulations. Even going as far as forming a pact with one of the Federation's main Piloting School branch, and to an extend, change the school's once gender-restricted enrollment system to co-ed, so that they would get sponsored by the E.F.F. The thought surely wasn't comforting for the poor Nishizumi, but seeing how the school's student council got not only hers, but, Hana's and Saori's rights to attend the school on the line, she had no choice but to accept the forced offer.

First there was the terrible propaganda video about the War Games, being able to produce quality women by joining such sport, and then the ridiculous rewards and pardons that's basically just downright bribery for those who're intelligent enough to not buy the recruitment skit. A hundred lunch coupons, two hundred pardons for coming late, and thrice the markings of one's academic scores. Whether the school would actually do that, however, was up for debate.

And then, as if trying to add insult to injury, there was only one tank inside the hangar. Not to mention, said vehicle was in a bad shape.

"...Why do we have only one tank?" One student questioned, sounding deadpanned at the predicament they were in.

"Yeah, that won't do for all of us."  
"Don't we need at least... five of these things to house us all?"  
"This tank's all nuts... and bolts... and strings, too..."

The dejected chatter of the girls caught the attention of the Student Council members of the Ooarai. And in turn, the president, Anzu Kadotani only grinned.

"Well, it looks like you guys would have to look around, then," She said, brushing one of her crimson twintails in a somewhat sagely manner.

Glancing to her side, the Ooarai's PR Manager, Momo Kawashima nodded and pushed her clear-lens, oval-framed single eyeglass up to the bridge of her nose. "It's been many years since the War Games simulations was disbanded at our school, however, there should still be some vehicles that you all would be able to use, around the Ooarai, somewhere..." She paused to shake her head. "No... rather, I'm positive about it. More so, an official instructor from the Federation will be here tomorrow morning, so, we expect you all to find the four remaining tanks by then."

"Then, where do you want us to look?" One of the girls voiced her question, voice giving off the sense of eagerness for the task at hand.

Anzu shrugged her shoulders and closed her eyes. " _Yeahhh_ , if we knew that we wouldn't need your help."

And then a round of protest erupted from the group.

" _Whaaaa...?!_ "  
"So we have to search the _ENTIRE_ colony to find these things?"  
"It'll take days just to search this field... let alone the whole Ooarai..."  
"And we have, only until tomorrow?"  
"But... don't you have any clue whatsoever?"

Knowing the situation they were in, the president merely raised her hand to silence the group of panicked girls. "Relax, all of you," Her body did a u-turn to face the hangar's exterior. "I wouldn't be asking this to you guys if I don't know how to get this done. So... we've called for some help."

In cue, a steady thumping sounds of boots, hitting the solid field grounds of the Ooarai fields, and the creaking noises of the second and third hangar bay doors opening, were heard by all in attendance. Curiosity rising, the girls rushed out from the hangar to see what was going on outside their own hangar. And the most of them would only find themselves stunned, when they see a bunch of well-clothed men and women, dressed in the Earth Federation's service-dress uniform, marching in an orderly fashion, with some directly heading towards the hangar, while some other stood at the ready by the edge of the field.

They could also clearly see several transport trucks unloading some Mobile Suits into the hangars. Relics of the One Year War, let them be manufactured by the Zeon forces or the Federation, were rolled into the docking clamps that each hangar'd provided. Miho counted several GM units and its variants as well as the infamous Zaku-line units being placed into the empty docks. None of them looked really stood out, though, as they were still unarmed. The only thing that differentiated each units were their color schemes, despite all of them were painted to fly the Federation's colors of either tan, dark gray, dull silver, marine-green, or dark blue-to-near-violet.

"Get the Mobile Suits into position!"  
"Jerry, Peter, over here! This clamp's stuck!"  
"Get that debris outta the way, the truck needs to roll into the hangar!"  
"Lukas, make sure that Zaku doesn't fall down from the platform!"

The response from Ooarai's girls were varied. With the most of the girls instantly looking amazed, surprised, and even, feared by the new, unfamiliar figures that looked like they didn't belong in a simple school like Ooarai, but in the military. A few others looked dejected, and even, disgusted by their arrival. Particularly a girl, with a short, dark-brown hair, and a matching pair of eyes. This one only chewed down hard on her lower lip as she irritably witnessed the personnel unloading on their school grounds.

Miho Nishizumi, swallowed hard, and posed a look that one couldn't exactly place. On one part, she looked like she was still rejecting their sudden presence, but on the other hand, she felt a light hint of relieve from inside her. Probably only because Anzu had just told her that these men and women might just be their help for their next task. She eyed each and every individual carefully with her chestnut eyes, taking in all of their stern faces and trying to deduce, and learn each of their properties.

A few of the Federation members caught her attention, though. Even though the most of them looked like they're steeled and ready for the job, a trembling boy, Japanese, was seen trying to keep his posture in check. And to his right, another boy, with a rather ambiguous racial ethnicity, who _didn't even try_ to keep himself in check. The latter's body was actually swaying left and right, threatening to fall down, and looked like he just wanted to bail from his post at any given moment. His face told her everything that he didn't want to be there alongside the others. And judging by his moving lips and his irritated expression, he seemed like he was catapulting some sharp, and yet, constant stream of complains from his mouth.

"...This is barely our first five minutes here, and we're already doing sports...?" The deadpanned voice of Innokenti Mononobe whined aloud. "...They didn't mention the place to be so big, too..." He droned on and on, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. "...And it's so hot out here..." He groaned, letting his hand go from his eyes, and the Cadet plopped himself to a crouched position. "...They didn't even feed us back at the shuttle..."

Kenji Iyamamoto glanced over to his right, and his eyes nearly bulged out at the older boy's slacked posture. " _Mononobe-senpai...!_ " He whispered in panic, bending his body slightly to the general area Innokenti was crouching at. " _Please... stand up! You're going to get your first warning if you keep this up!_ " Straying his glance away, his shock was amplified tenfold when he saw one of the girls of Ooarai, actually looking straight at them with a blank look, he immediately reached his hand out to grab the older Cadet by his collar to pull him up. " _Uh, um, err..._ _Please, excuse me for this!_ "

" _Heyyyy...!_ " Kenya lazily flailed his arms around when he was pulled back up by his junior. "What's the big idea...?!"

Miho's head limply fell to her side when she saw the shenanigans before her eyes, completely dumbfounded at the random scene. Unfortunately for her, it seemed that she stared at the two and their for a few seconds too long, for the trembling student realized her gaze'd been planted on them. Almost instantly when she realized that the boy'd been returning the look back, she turned her face away to hide her own face in embarrassment, shame, and guilt, mostly directed at herself for being too rude by staring at them.

Surely enough, though the two's actions warranted them some strange looks, even from their fellow students.

To her side, Saori's squeal snapped her out from her daze. The girl was leaning her head forward, and was _this_ close to let that piece of saliva fall from her mouth. On closer inspection, one might even see stars twinkling on her eyes as she checked each of the Federation personnel out, and particularly, the boys. Miho only laughed nervously at her reaction from seeing so many men up close. She was the one who could literally go on for hours if it's about boys, after all.

" _Kami-sama_ help me," The girl in question mumbled dreamily her hands gripping hard on her green skirt. "That one is so cute! But that one is _sooo_ handsome! Oh, but that one is really good-looking! And look at that tall one!"

Hana simply giggled quietly to her fisted hand. "My, my, Saori-san seems to be in high spirits, isn't she, Nishizumi-san?"

"A-ah... um, yes," Her answer came out stiff and hardened, for some reason, before deciding to keep herself quiet when she saw one male from the formation of Cadets, looking older than the most, presumably third year, advancing forward to meet with Anzu and the rest of the Ooarai's Student Council members, who'd just stepped out from the hangars themselves to greet that certain staff of the Federation. Tall and very well-built, as expected from the fabled rigorous training exercises of the Federation's Piloting School, considering it's still partly a military school. Latin American, short, but curly black hair, light chocolate complexion, minimal stubble, and bright hazel irises.

Miho almost feared for Saori's well being when he came into view, for the girl, and some others nearly fainted.

"Balthazar Silva," The boy courtly saluted Anzu and the two others representatives of the Ooarai. "Student Council President, and a third year student of the Earth Federation Piloting School, _Vuelo Escuela_ , Latin America branch, requesting your permission to partake in Ooarai High School's activities, Ma'am," His calm, but firm voice sent a few rounds of ' _ooooh_ 's from the girls who were impressed at how much discipline one individual could achieve.

Anzu chewed on her gum and waved her hands dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, ask me for permission when you guys have _already_ vandalized our hangars..." The girl stopped chewing to show off her grin. "Either way, sure, we'll be putting you guys to good use right away, even... have some of your guys get into their mechs and help our girls search for our tanks, will ya? We've got a lot of ground to cover here, and I'm sure you guys want to have a feel of the colony first hand."

"A-anyway, please, all of you wouldn't need to address us so formally," Yuzu voiced her thoughts shyly, still feeling the uneasiness of being in the face of multiple foreign individuals. "You are all officially members of our school, so..." Her soft voice trailed off, as she played with her own thumb to rub away the nervousness that was plaguing her. "Welcome... welcome to Ooarai!"

"...Both parties should head out to search the premises, immediately. Balthazar Silva-san, you may dismiss your men," Momo followed shortly after by directing the man onto the objective.

Balthazar slowly lowered his hand from the tip of his eyebrows and gave a formal nod to the girls. He did a turn to face the students of the Piloting School, and assumed an eased position, placing one balled hand on the back of his waist, and making gripping said hand with his free left one. His eyes first caught the wobbly state of both Innokenti and Kenji, but decided to ignore them for the time being with a tired sigh.

"You heard the ladies, men!" He barked with a voice full of power and sense of order. "You are to help the students of Ooarai on whatever task they wish to complete! Since this is the new school year, I would like to first welcome the newest additions to the _Vuelo Escuela_ 's War Games simulations! Pick your poison on the hangar, and that suit is going to be stuck with you 'till the end of this term! And remember, sightseeing comes second! is that understood?!"

" _Sir, yes, sir!_ " Came the collective reply, which was conducted in a perfect sync from the Federation Cadets, except for Kenya, who was still trying, to regain his bearings, if he was actually trying, that is.

The president from the male's portion of the group nod his head. "Good! Now let me hear that cry one more time!"

" _Que quem quis sempre pode!_ " The whole team resounded, and with that, the men quickly scattered to the hangars to find their ideal machines, again, except for Innokenti, and Kenji, to an extent.

"Wh-whoa, they completely beat us in every category..." Saori choked in amazement at the other team's synergy. "So, these are the guys from the so-called Earth Federation Forces, huh?"

Momo, who was still around by the time she said that, shot the girl a glare from her own dark-colored eyes. "That goes for the all of you too! Team up with the rest of the War Games' members and start searching for the rest of the vehicles!"

And most of the girls instantly panicked, much to her chagrin.

" _Audeamus_..." Innokenti's sluggish voice suddenly spoke up, whilst shakily saluting towards his school's president's general direction, surprising nearly everyone on the field, and drawing him some unwanted attention from the girls. Balthazar rubbed his own neck at the seemingly late, and incorrect response the boy'd just given back to him. Kenji, who was already a few steps away from him, decided to check back to the other second year.

Said Japanese placed a hand on Innokenti's shoulder. "Mononobe-senpai, that... is, um, the wrong motto," He pointed out. "You, uh, just recited the Londo Bell's war cry..."

"Ano, is something wrong?" Hana, who was keeping her curiosity in check, finally thought that the urge to ask was too great for her to handle. The girl slowly approached the boys in a graceful, and ladylike manner. She was among the few students, alongside Miho, Saori, and one final other student, the same one who rejected the Federation's presence on the colony, who didn't immediately scatter, even after Momo gave the order.

Balthazar, however, was the one who responded. "Oh, uh, sorry about that, Miss," He bent his head downwards slightly in apology to her. "Please don't mind him. This here's Innokenti Mononobe, a veteran of our school's War Games simulations. He's the same age as me, but he'll be repeating his second grade here, at Ooarai, because of the injuries he'd sustained during last year's War Games tourney, that rendered him immobilized by the hospital for six months. He's just completed his recovery and will be rejoining the team, though."

Innokenti, who finally managed to get himself focused, realized that the president was talking about him. "Prez..." He called out, "Prez, guys, listen... I won't be joining the War Games-"

" ** _HEY!_** " Lukas's voice screamed from the hangar, catching everyone's attention, and directing their eyes towards him. " ** _WAIT!_** "

The same time, all of the attendees felt some light tremors as well as some loud metal noises, thumping against the ground. They saw several of the docked Mobile Suits within the hangar walking out from their docking clamps and into the exterior. Zakus and GMs alike poured down and immediately marched away from their general premises. One such GM caught every single Cadets' eyes. For it was a dull gray GM, that was also equipped with several extra arm-binders and thrusters on its back.

" ** _HEY, I SAID WAIT, GODDAMMIT!_** " Lukas yelled at the GM in question, throwing his arms up into the air to get its attention alongside his protests. " ** _THAT THUNDERBOLT GM ISN'T YOURS!_** "

Unfortunately for him, his voice fell unto deaf ears, as the modified Mobile Suit just continued to step away from the hangar's exit in ease. The German mechanic chased after the unit for several hundred meters, until finally giving up in frustration. He kicked a few ounces of dirt into the air and slowly went back to the hangar, he spotted Innokenti, Kenji, Balthazar, as well as what's left of the Ooarai's War Games teams. He carefully watched Kenya's face for any change in his expression, but to find none.

As confused as he was, it was Saori who went and asked the question. "Um... what just happened?"

Lukas growled, scratching his head with the both of his hands in both anger and irritation. "A Mobile Suit theft-auto happened, that's what," He muttered. "Some first year newbie just decided to jump into Innokenti's GM right here without asking first! Me and the engineers tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen!" The mechanic explained frantically. "Damn it all, sorry, dude. It's my fault for letting the cockpit open."

Innokenti shrugged. "...It's fine," He answered sleepily. "I won't be rejoining the War-"

"Damn, dude," Balthazar mused, slapping the Russo-Japanese student by his back. "I should be sayin' sorry, too... should've told the greenhorns that they shouldn't enter your unit."

The shortest male Cadet's face twitched twice. "As I have said..." His voice was starting to change, seemingly taken over by anger by that point. "It's okay... it's just... my parents, ever since the championship, they've decided that I shouldn't-"

"Senpai!" Kenji's voice yelled from the hangar, causing Lukas to wonder in surprise, on how he managed to brush past them without anyone noticing. "We have, um, some spare Mobile Suits in the hangar!"

" _Alright, that's it,_ " After spitting one such sentence out from his mouth, Innokenti stomped his feet, _hard_ , so hard, that it kicked a greater amount of dirt compared to Lukas when he did it, on the ground and walked over to the hangar Kenji was at, the sudden change of his voice was all the proof that everyone needed that he was pissed. Very pissed. On what reason, though, they couldn't exactly guess why. He walked pass the other Japanese, who was supposed to be his wingman, and looked over to the units that were reported by him.

One GM Ground-Type, and a Zaku II JC-Type, similarly colored, with light, creamy, tan limbs and dark-blue torsos, but the paints of each suits had already peeled off from their main body, leaving behind two, pale and nearly grayed-out hulls of their former selves. The two ancient Mobile Suits stood at the ready by the docking clamps. As expected, they were still unequipped with anything, seeing how some of the other trucks were in the progress of unloading the rest of the school's arsenal by the next hangar. After eyeing each suit carefully with his pale-brown eyes, he walked over to each of the two mechs, and kicked at their feet to produce some echoing sounds, that only confused the other students and the mechanics even further.

"You," He pointed a finger at Kenji.

And Kenji sputtered when the usually sleepy-looking Cadet suddenly turned a tad bit too scary for his tastes. "Y-yes?!"

"Congrats. You're now the new Argus Actual. Now take a pick."

The Japanese male tilted his head. "Uum... um, wh-what?"

"Your machine, take a pick," Innokenti repeated, now sounding impatient, as he was also tapping his foot lightly on the hangar floors, for emphasis, he jabbed a thumb over the two waiting, empty Mobile Suits.

"The-the Zaku! I'll, um, take the Zaku II, Mononobe-senpai!"

Kenya merely nodded, and he swiftly climbed over a set of stairs to set himself inside the cockpit of the Ground-Type GM. The sounds of the suit's system booting up were heard, and the secured docking clamps automatically folded themselves to let the eighteen-meter mecha to walk past it. A stream of hot steam was excreted from the GM's chest exhaust ports, then the green optics of said unit flared up into life, before finally its feet moved, slowly forward, to step down from the elevated platform it was standing on.

" _I'm waiting for you, Argus Actual_ ," Innokenti's voice, which sounded several octaves deeper than usual, erupted from the GM's loudspeaker. The Mobile Suit menacingly turned its head to face down to the Japanese cadet.

Kenji squeaked in fear, and he did what he was ordered. He quickly climbed onto the cockpit of the Zaku II and quickly booted the Heads Up Display of his own, chosen unit on. The student took several deep breaths as he waited for the system to completely set itself up. After closing the cockpit and activating the main camera feed, he gingerly fastened the safety harness, then placed his hands onto the flight sticks and thruster pedals which the suit had provided for him. The interior of the old unit was dirtier, and rustier than he'd expected, but he wasn't in the power to bargain nor complain about it.

" _Okay... okay... okay, Kenji, you can do this..._ " He chanted to himself, pushing the right stick forward, and giving the left thruster pedal a light pressure. The unit responded by flaring its pink, mono-eye optic, and blowing out some of its own, excess steam from its main breather-unit. The docking clamps folded and the Zaku began its march to the outside. " _Left leg, right leg, left leg, right leg..._ " Kenji repeated such orders as he worked on his own with the suit's controls.

On the ground, Balthazar pointed towards the now-active GM Ground-Type with his fingers. "Did... something happen to Innokenti? I mean... what's gotten into him all of a sudden?"

Lukas shrugged. "Who knows?" His answer came out brief and simple.

" _Mononobe-senpai!_ " Kenji's optical voice was also spoken out from the Zaku's own speakers. " _Um, what do you mean, by me, being the new Argus Actual?_ "

" _It means that I will now be your support and you are the new leader of the Argus Team_ ," Innokenti replied simply. " _Don't even say anything, especially you, Lukas, and you too, Balthazar,_ " He instantly added, his GM looked down to their general location, causing the mechanic to flinch slightly on his place. " _I'm out of my own league, so don't try to change my mind about being Argus Actual again. I will be Argus Two from now on, and that's final. Well, I'm waiting for your orders now, Team Leader._ "

" _Wh-wha-whaaaaa?!_ " Kenji's Zaku staggered a few steps forward, and it nearly fell if it wasn't for the unit's AMBAC self-balancing system taking control to force the suit back into a standing position. " _Me?! The Argus Actual?!_ " The GM's head nodded, and it stayed silent afterwards. Clearly the pilot wasn't in the talking mood. " _But I've never... um, I've never even piloted a real Mobile Suit in a live situation before!_ " The moment he trailed off in uncertainty, Innokenti's Ground GM slowly turned its head intimidatingly towards his Zaku. " _U-uhm I mean, I'll do my best! I-I mean, yes, uh, the orders... my orders are..._ "

The Zaku II's round mono-eye trailed to the girls, sending Kenji's silent, but desperate request for help.

"Um!" Miho, getting the message from the pilot, found her voice. "Can you... please help us find the tanks? I mean... um, it would be better if we work together, right?"

" _Yes!_ " The optic of the Zaku rolled back to look at the GM. " _Err, she's right! We should team up with them, see if that works out!_ "

The GM visibly shrugged its shoulders by raising its arms in an up-and-down motion.

" _Um, shall we, then?_ "

" _Audeamus_.

* * *

 ** _Das War Games_**

 ** _A Mobile Suit Gundam and Girls und Panzer Crossover Work of Fiction_**

* * *

 ** _When Two Schools Collide_**

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes:_**

I was drunk when I wrote this. I don't know what I was doing when I typed this down on my laptop. It started as a simple, ' _I'm bored in the middle of the class_ ' kind of bullcrap, along with another Gundam project which I probably won't post, and then suddenly, I was writing a poor, ten-thousand words chapter. This story sucks, I'm sorry. I'm only humiliating myself further by posting this, aren't I? Oh, well. Might as well as give a glossary regarding this story.

There are some original content created by me that don't exactly exist in the Gundam universe, such as:  
\- The other M61-type tanks, with numerous classifications, like the M61A2, M61A3, M61A4 tanks. Each tank has its own type with the A2 being the light tank, the A3 being the medium tank, and A4 being the heavy type. The M61 and the M61A5 tanks retained their original, canon role as the Federation's Main Battle Tanks. The names of each tanks are associated with the name ' _Semovente_ ' which is the name of the M61A5 MBT, and the Italian WWII self-propelled gun.  
\- The motto/war cry for the Earth Federation Forces and Londo Bell. They are the mottos of the Portuguese Armed Forces and the Canadian Special Forces Regiment respectively. The reason why my drunken mind chose the Portuguese motto for the E.F.F., it's because the flag of the Earth Federation strongly resembles Brazil's flag. But since Brazil has no confirmed motto, I decided to look for a fellow, Spanish-speaking country. The Londo Bell / Canadian motto was purely random, though.

Again, I'm sorry. This story sucks.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, uh," Saori began, pinching herself by her own forehead, her eyebrows twitching lightly for every few seconds. "Just where could these tanks be?!" She yelled in frustration, even going as far as dramatically throwing her hands up into the air just to show her irritation. The strawberry-blonde haired girl then limply let her hands back down to rub on her skirt as she exhaled a tired sigh and a look of wariness and dejection replaced her anger.

The group of girls who accompanied her, Hana and Miho, expressed their sympathy by smiling in an only slight exasperated manner.

"Well... wherever they are, I don't think that they'd be parked here with the cars..." Hana supplied.

"Yeah, but, still, aren't they both basically vehicles?" Saori tried to argue back, only to stop and think that her countering comment wasn't indeed the most intelligent one. She visibly cringed.

The sounds of heavy, armored feet and the shaking ground caught the girls' attention, and they turned their faces toward their sides to look at the approaching metal giants. Two Mobile Suits, flying the Federation's paling tan and dark-blue colors stepped onto the parking lot of the school grounds. The Zaku was being extra careful not to crush any of the parked cars on the lot, while the Ground GM behind it only kept its head snapping left and right, presumably sightseeing and taking the view of the Colony with its camera.

" _Um, everyone, why don't we just check the bushes on that field?_ " Kenji's voice spoke through the optical speaker of his Zaku II, promptly, he made his unit's mono eye to glance away from them as well as to point an index finger to the direction he was speaking of. " _If we're talking about the tanks... then, uh, there should at least some over by the forest, right?_ "

The girls silently agreed with him, and their feet carried them over to the field's entrance. Saori and Hana was the first to leave the premises, while Miho just stood there in silence, while keeping her eyes trained on both of the two Federation units. The faintest hints of a sad frown formed on her face, for she was actually going to be reinstated to the War Games simulations. The GM seemed to notice the pair of eyes that have landed upon them, and slowly turned its head from the Colony's skies to the staring girl.

Miho blinks rapidly when she noticed that again, she'd been glancing at them for a bit too long, the girl trains her eyes away from the two Mobile Suits quietly and bashfully, only to meet the eyes of yet another unfamiliar figure. But instead of wearing the Federation's uniform, she was wearing the sailor-uniform of Ooarai, with short, dark brown hair and matching irises, the girl was equally surprised when her presence was caught by the War Games veteran. She immediately hid herself behind a tree, much to Miho's confusion.

She scratched her neck and began walking forward to follow her other friends, trying not to mind her. But of course, the same girl trailed closely from her back. Miho, with her senses heightened after realizing that she's may be tailed, finally couldn't bear the looming figure at her back. She chewed her lower lip and stopped her steps abruptly, and the other girl also followed her actions. Hands and face twitching, she turned around with a rather disturbed face, but while still maintaining courtesy to address the other student.

"Um, excuse me!" She exclaimed suddenly whilst turning her whole body around.

The girl in question recoiled back at when all eyes were now directed at her. "Yes?!" She inquired back, now panicking.

Seeing the girl's state, Miho's face softened into a smile. "Do you, um, want to come looking with us?"

The student's eyes lit up in excitement at the offer. "Are... are you sure?!"

" _...I' thought she was with you all along,_ " Innokenti's flat voice piped up from his GM, now sounding much more calmer or at least, duller, compared to the earlier minutes. "... _I mean, she's been following us since we left the hangar and all..._ " The Ground GM's hands made a single swipe motion, signifying the pilot's nonchalance about the whole situation. " _...Just haven't realized that she hasn't spoken a word,_ " The GM's optics were once again facing the panorama of the space colony once he was done speaking his thoughts aloud.

The girl's glare went unnoticed by the RGM-79[G]'s pilot, as he was already looking away when she gave his Mobile Suit that hateful look. Kenji, inside his Zaku, however, seemed to be getting the killing intent she gave through her vibes, and he gulped nervously, despite fully knowing that it was not directed at him, but his senior-slash-wingman instead. Her smile, however once again returned to her once she faced the still-smiling Miho, and the curious Hana and Saori.

"I, um, I'm Yukari Akiyama from Standard Education class 2-C," She meekly introduced herself, possibly still feeling somewhat guilty for tailing the group of girls. She then straightened herself up into a much more composed stance. "I may be a rookie, but I'll do my best!" She bent her head down in respect that was all directed to no one but Miho.

Hana, however bowed back, just to return the courtesy that was given from the newly-joined. "No, no, we're glad to have you. I'm Hana Isuzu."

"And I'm Saori Takebe!" Saori raised her hand, just to make sure she was noticed.

Feeling like she was the only one left on the ground who hasn't introduced herself, Miho stiffened up. "Uh, and I am-"

"I already know you," She said with brimming confidence. "You're Miho Nishizumi-dono, aren't you?"

Miho's stiff posture stiffened even further at the honorific that was give. Nevertheless, she nodded slowly. "Um... yes, I am."

It was the Kenji's Zaku stepped forward, he felt like he should also at least introduce himself. " _Um, and I'm Kenji Iyamamoto! I'm a Second Year at the Federation's..._ " His voice trailed off when Yukari gave that same look of hostility from her eyes. " _...Piloting..._ " He continued, very slowly, his usual timidity getting the best of him. " _...School..._ " He immediately turned his Zaku's optic away from the girl, mostly out of fear. " _UmIt'sVeryNiceToMeetYou!_ "

Innokenti, however stayed in his silence. In fact, he wasn't even listening to the exchange that just happened. His GM's head was still wondering elsewhere but the group.

This caused Kenji to lightly tap the Mobile Suit's shoulder with his Zaku's arm. " _Mononobe-senpai..._ " He called out in a small voice. " _Um, I think you should also introduce yourself..._ " He suggested.

The GM turned its head towards the Zaku, and then to the group of girls down at the parking lot. He gave the GM's head a nodding motion, and Kenji slowly released his Zaku's hand from his GM's armored shoulder. The Zaku gingerly took a few steps back to let the GM step forward on its place instead, and Kenya quietly eyed each of the girls through his unit's Main Camera. All of them wore a look of formality, safe from Yukari, who looked irked, and nearly downright disgusted when his GM's optics fell on her.

" _...Innokenti Mononobe..._ " He announced lazily. " _I will be repeating my Second Year here at your guys' school.._." The GM then tilted its head slightly. " _...Let's see... I like it when I get free food and anything related to sweets._ " He plainly stated, drawing a nervous chuckle from Kenji's end of the transmission, and some uneasy stares from the girls down below. " _...Also, my friends told me that I'm socially awkward. I don't know if that supposed to be a good thing..._ " He trailed off, going back to glance at the girls." _...Hope we can get along... I guess..._ "

" _You, uh, don't have to say anything about your friends calling you socially awkward, Mononobe-senpai..._ " Kenji chuckled with uncertainty. " _Oh... and, um, just so you girls know, Mononobe-senpai here just got discharged from the hospital after sustaining some... um, life-threatening injuries at the last War Games tournament, so, technically... he is my senior... I think..._ "

Innokenti just snorted plainly. "... _Life-threatening injuries? I only lost my arm. No biggie._ "

The Zaku's head looked awkwardly downcast. " _That's... actually pretty life-threatening if you ask me, Mononobe-senpai._ "

Miho and the other girls swallowed a huge lump on their throats when the GM pilot easily stated his supposedly traumatic events with no care whatsoever. Their skin paled a bit, especially when he mentioned the specific injuries he'd sustained. Miho, went even shakier than usual, her mind raced and her heart beat faster, much faster than usual, as she remembered some memories from the past War Games tournament on her old school. She shook her head wildly to push the thoughts away. Yukari, while was also shocked, didn't seem to show any signs of sympathy for him like the others.

"Um, err, yes, it's nice to meet the both of you, too!" She yelled frantically to break the ice. "So, uh, shall we get a move on?"

* * *

The sun was already starting to get low in the sky of the Ooarai's field, but at least the tall trees provided some shady cover for the girls, and Miho was immensely thankful for that. The girl was carrying a map of the colony on her hands, and Yukari was trailing beside her, observing said map with her brown eyes, while Saori and Hana were at the front, searching for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. The students of the Federation, lagged behind by a bit, and decided to stay away from the trees in the fear of stepping onto something they weren't supposed to crush. They instead, waited on a nearby clearing right beside the area with the trees. Their gargantuan, armored figures still stood out like a sore thumb to the girls down below, though.

Kenji Iyamamoto sighed and he shrunk himself deeper to the cockpit seat of his Zaku II. The boy looked around the cramped spaces of his own unit, and thought that the unit's cockpit layout was way different from any of the recent units he'd been using for the Virtual Reality field tests. No panoramic, three-sixty degrees camera, slightly more complex controls, and a lot more buttons to push. Other than that, and aside from the slightly hotter interior, because of how many things that were packed inside, it was essentially the same as any other Mobile Suit's cockpits, though. Minus the spacious part, that is.

He caught several of the other Mobile Suits at the distance, also in the search of more armored vehicles on the Ooarai's field. He then turned to the quiet GM pilot, who was still busying himself with the view of the Colony. Now tempted, he also wanted to look away from the objective for a second to just enjoy the scenery of Ooarai's War Games field. Surely enough, the Colony provided a much more spacious field for them to test their mettle and metal on. The field looked like it's at least four times bigger than the fields they used back on Earth, complete with ravines, rivers, forests, and even rocky mountains and cliffs for them to compete on.

The Japanese then frowned when he saw a dull-gray, Thunderbolt-sector-use GM, stepping away on the far end of the field. He felt slightly disappointed on whoever decided to just get into his senior's suit and just walk away with it with no consent. Even though Innokenti himself didn't really seem to mind at the fact that his former personal unit was practically stolen by a First Year student, the idea still nagged Kenji's mind to no end. it's just that it was unfair. For even though it's still an old, mass-produced unit, and was supposed to be a space-only suit, the Thunderbolt GM's capabilities could easily surpass even his Zaku and Innokenti's new GM Ground-Type's powers combined, let it be on firepower, speed, and defense. Especially on the speed and defense part.

Back with the girls, Hana's eyes suddenly twinkled in curiosity when she reached a certain point near the bushes.

And so, she stopped at a spot, near the treeline and looked around left and right. This drew her some attention from the other girls.

"What's wrong?" Saori inquired as she approached the halted girl.

The black-haired girl sniffed a few times with her eyes closed, fully intending to make sure that all of senses are focused on her nose. "...I smell something over there," She lifted a finger down on a grassy path.

"You can find something by smelling?" Yukari asked, sounding both amused and impressed.

"It's mingled with the smell of flowers, but I sense some faint hints of both iron and oil," She took off to the direction she'd been pointing at, prompting everyone to follow her.

Saori was quick to catch up to the taller student. "Whoa, has flower arrangement made you _that_ sensitive to smell?"

Hana turned her face over her shoulders to give a meek smile. "It might just be me, though..."

Yukari cupped her hands into fists in excitement. "Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" She dramatically pointed her finger to Hana's direction. " _Sieg Zeon!_ "

" _Sick Simon_?" Saori asked back, mishearing the war cry that just erupted from Yukari's mouth. Everyone noted that she said: _See-mon_ , instead of the usual _Sai-mon_.

Miho giggled nervously, while Yukari seemed to look exasperated. "I think it's supposed to be the Republic of Zeon's war cry during the last conflicts..." The War Games veteran informed her friend. "What was the meaning... Glory to the Principality-"

"-Of Zeon!" Yukari finished proudly, placing a fist on her upper chest. "You're well informed, Nishizumi-dono, as expected of you!"

After a few more minutes of just walking blindly into the bushes, they stumbled upon something that caught their eyes. A brown, boxy object that crashed horribly against the usual green gradient that the forest gave away. The group of girls, feeling that they were right on track, immediately fastened their pace towards the suspicious object on the treeline, and they saw an old, very old, even, armored vehicle, with four propellers on each corner of said vehicle.

Kenji noticed that the girls down there seemed to be picking up their search, after carefully observing them from his Zaku's zoom modules. He placed his hands and feet back to the cockpit's controls and motioned his unit to walk forward to follow them, or to at least, circle around so that he could get a better view on what they're doing on the ground. He trailed through the clearings, but not before signalling his senior, of course. Innokenti only silenty followed the Japanese's Zaku from behind.

The vehicle in question, although, obviously well-armored, looked much more lighter than the usual tanks. In fact, it didn't seem to be brandishing a cannon at all, but instead, was hoisting what it seemed to be a large-caliber autocannon, that looked like it could be fired remotely from the inside of the vehicle. Naturally, the vehicle looked like it was nearly beyond repair, seeing how some parts of the armor were nearly ripped out from the frames of said vehicle, but Miho thought that with a few repairs, it could return to its perfect condition.

"Oh... it's a Federation hovercraft..." A dejected Yukari looked disappointed at their find. "I was hoping we could at least find something that's a true property of Zeon..."

"The M353A4 _Bloodhound_ Hover Truck," Miho supplemented to the group.

Saori carefully analyzed the wrecked vehicle with her own eyes, only to look confused. "It looks smaller than the others... and it got screws everywhere..."

"It's because of the M353A4 is not an actual tank, but rather, an armored combat Hover Truck," Yukari explained, face still looking somber and sour. "It was widely used by the Earth Federation Ground Forces, as a Commander support unit, especially at the battle of Southeast Asia and Operation Odessa, it's agile, although it's very lightly armored, just like the M74 Hover Truck that came before this," She slowly touched the rusty armored hull of the Bloodhound, only to pull her hand away immediately. " _Damn Feddies and their love for their own arsenal..._ " The girl muttered with a considerable amount of hate.

She then turned back to see the girls looking at her with both amazement, and confusion on their faces.

"You sure know an awful lot of these things for a girl who seems to hate the Federation..." Saori pointed out plainly.

Yukari blinked at the remark, and she looked down to her feet in shame. "I'm sorry..."

"Why are you apologizing?!" Saori screeched, getting even more confused. "Don't tell me you're actually feeling sorry, and mostly, at yourself, because you know, or have learned about this Hovercraft's history..."

The lack of answer was the only thing that she'd needed to conduct a facepalm.

"It looks like it's very well-armed for a Hovercraft, though..." Hana mused, pointing at the large, nearly oversized, even, auto-cannon at the turret section of the Bloodhound.

Miho nodded. "Oh, right, it might be modified to be used as a flag-vehicle for the War Games. Since the twenty-millimeter rounds can't really do any damage aside from providing suppressing fire, I think the last crew of this _Bloodhound_ Hover Truck replaced the chaingun with a more sophisticated ninety-millimeter, self-loading, remote auto-cannon, like the ones used by the M70 _Wichita_ Anti-Zaku Tank. That way, it can deal a considerable amount of damage, even to a Mobile Suit," She, in turn, explained some of the _Bloodhound_ 's current properties to the girls.

And of course, it was her turn to receive some amazed gazes.

The Nishizumi's body tensed at the attention she was getting. "Um, either way!" She produced her cellphone to dial someone. "We should report our findings to the Student Council board!" Miho quickly placed the phone near her ears to hear the operator, fetching the Ooarai's school board to her. "Oh, um, yes, Hello! This is Miho Nishizumi!" She spoke into her phone in a rapid pace. "We have found a damaged Hover Truck here by the forest fields!" A moment of silence swept through for a couple of seconds. "Uh-huh... Oh... right, I see. Alright, yes, thank you!"

Saori approached the War Games veteran who'd just pocketed her phone back to her skirt. "What did they say?"

"They told us to inform the nearest Mobile Suits available to transport the vehicle back to the hangars," She informed. "I suppose, I should go and fetch them-"

" _Um, you wouldn't need to,_ " Kenji butted into the group, his Zaku's visibly approaching them. " _We picked up the transmission from our Mobile Suits, and have heard the requests. In fact, we have just also, uh, received the same order from Silva-senpai regarding the Bloodhound,_ " He told them, moving the mech closer to the ground and reached out his Zaku's hands to grab the straighten the Hover Truck into a much more stable position before picking it up.

The girls, excluding Miho and Yukari, seemed impressed at the strength shown by the ancient mono-eyed Mobile Suit, seeing how it picked up several tonnes of metal with ease, and no difficulties whatsoever. They could hear the J-Type Zaku's joints creaking in protest at the added weight of the Hover Truck, but the Mobile Suit itself didn't seem to lose any of its balance as it stood back up to its mighty height of seventeen-and-a-half meters, thanks to the AMBAC system.

" _It's already nearing sun set..._ " Innokenti approached with his GM, although the Mobile Suit itself wasn't exactly looking at them. It was observing the orange skies, and the sun that was already low, threatening to disappear through the horizon. " _We all should head back with this thing. It'll be a lost cause, even with our units, if we continue to search for these things during the night..._ " The Russo-Japanese suggested tiredly. A yawn escaped from the GM's speakers as he finished his sentence. " _...You girls should just hitch a ride on my GM... I'll carry you all back to the hangars... just show me the way, because I have a bad sense of direction..._ "

At the second part of the suggestion, most, if not all, the attendees by the area erupted into a state of shock.

"What?!" Saori asked, still clearly shown to be surprised at the offer. "You're gonna be giving us a ride?! For real?!"

"I'd rather die than to ever set foot on a Federation Mobile Suit's cockpit!" Yukari announced with teary eyes. " _Sieg Zeon!_ "

"I don't think the four of us would fit inside your machine's interior, Innokenti-san," Hana pointed out, voice as steady as ever.

Miho, being the only one who got the idea, only smiled uneasily. "I don't think he's referring to his GM's cockpit, everyone..."

The Ground GM's face did a nod to support the fellow veteran. "... _Yeah, who says anything about going inside my cockpit?_ " Kenya deadpanned. " _...The place's already cramped enough for one person as it is..._ " He sighed after stating that one bluntly, and his GM even mimicked his actions by blowing a few more excess steam from its chest exhaust ports. " _I'm saying that you four should get on my GM's hands or something, and I'll carry you all back to the field by that..._ "

Kenji's Zaku suddenly stepped forward, Bloodhound still in hand. " _But Mononobe-senpai, wouldn't that be, um, dangerous?_ "

" _...Better that than walking in the dark, I'd say..._ " His answer came swift and simple. " _'Sides, look at this place... why the hell are there so many cliffs and steep slopes around here? Are they trying to kill you guys or something?_ "

Miho's lips formed into an uneven line at the question, as she also observed her surroundings. "I think it's probably because of the colony itself was first intentionally built to support, and conduct large-scale War Games simulations, not for tourism..." True enough, what the GM pilot'd said just now were true. Even the place where the _Bloodhound_ was stuck onto was situated near a rather steep cliff. Maybe it was the reason why the old crew evacuated the vehicle. The only thing that separated the war machine and a rather long fall was the two trees that stopped the Hover Truck from fully rolling to its doom.

Innokenti groaned again. " _Alright... so you guys hopping on or what?_ " He made his Ground-Type GM to crouch down to considerable level, and made a half-bowl-shape with the Mobile Suit's hands, forming a makeshift platform for the girls to step onto. " _...I'm getting hungry... are there any nearest convenient stores near the school?_ " He questioned, having seemingly forgotten of his original intentions of picking the girls up, even though his GM was still crouching. " _Why is it so hot inside the cockpit...?_ " He whined on through the loudspeaker.

The girls looked at the Mobile Suit with unreadable expressions for a couple of seconds, but decided that they should go along.

"Huh... I've always wondered what it feels like to view the colony from a high place..." Saori smirked whilst saying that with a shaky voice, clearly not looking forward to be carried by a eighteen-meter-tall unit.

Hana softly giggled at her friend's fear. "I think it would look absolutely beautiful, Saori-san, don't you think so too, Nishizumi-san?"

Miho blinked twice when the girl called for her name. "Ah, err, yes!" She laughed nervously, before turning to the still in-denial Yukari. "Um..." She reached out a hand to her.

" _Nooo...!_ " Yukari swiftly shoo'ed her hand away. "I can't trust any of the Federation scum! Who knows, maybe he'll even drop us while we're not suspecting it on our way back!" She sent that same, hateful glare over to the GM, who didn't seem to react to her insults. "Hey, you, how can we know that you're sure that you won't drop us?!" The Ooarai student scowled and furrowed her brows as she also pointed an accusing finger at the Mobile Suit.

" _Because... I'm not a cold-blooded psychopath that likes to kill people...?_ " Innokenti answered plainly, it's as if he was just asked the most simple and obvious question in the world.

Yukari choked awkwardly at the deadpanned answer. _Now_ she was truly convinced why he was called socially awkward by his friends.

" _R-right... uh, Mononobe-senpai here is an experienced pilot, I'm sure he'll be careful, especially with the four of you on board!_ " Kenji turned to support his senior.

Looking that she has no chance of winning the argument, the girl groaned aloud, and finally nodded in defeat. Miho sighed in relieve at that. She'd never thought that this girl would have such strong hate for anything that's seemingly not Zeon. But she also wondered how she seemed to be show some high amount of respect to her, true to the ' _Dono_ ' honorific that was given from the student. She decided to save all of the questions for next time, for she was too, exhausted after the long search. The day has been rather uneventful for her, anyway.

The girls slowly, but surely, climbed to the hands of the Ground GM, with Yukari hopping onto the Mobile Suit's palm the last because of her anti-Federation spree. Finally, but with a great deal amount of hesitation, though, she finally stepped onto the makeshift platform the Earthborn Russo-Japanese pilot'd created for them. The girls waited for a couple of seconds, before realizing that the pilot was already sightseeing again due to the amount of time they'd taken to just hop onto the unit's hand.

Miho let herself a tiny, dry smile, as she slapped her palms onto the wrist of the GM, signalling the Federation pilot that they're already on board and accounted for. The GM slowly turned its head back down to face its open palms, and the girls' reactions varied, with Saori staggering back at the up-close sight of the GM's green compound optics, Hana simply keeping her formal smile on her face, Yukari looking like she was ready to jump off, and Miho nodding to the main camera.

The Ground GM slowly, and silently nodded back, and its hands realigned themselves to provide a more stable platform for its passengers, and then carefully stood back up from its crouched position, its joints and hydraulics hissing at the slow movements that were surely taking its toll on the suit. The GM then lowered its hands a bit, when its chest exhaust ports let out another wave of hot steam into the air, before ginally pulling its hands close to its cockpit region.

The students of Ooarai could feel the cool breeze hitting their faces from their elevated position, which was now at least ten-meters off from the ground. Saori, braved herself to look down, only to immediately regret that decision by scooting herself as far away from the edge of the GM's hands as possibly and to hug the metal thumb of the Mobile Suit tightly. Hana simply giggled and decided to calm her friend down. Yukari sat silently, still looking unwilling to give the pilot some credit for his efforts.

Miho, however, looked like she was the only one who enjoyed the situation she was in. She looked over to the horizon, which was already blotched in a sickly orange-yellow color, as the sun has already begun its descent. The colony's glass cylinder slowly became visible to the group, as the countless stars of space began to take their place. The War Games veteran smiled in satisfactory at the panoramic view from the GM's metal hands. She silently looked back to the GM's face, to see that the pilot has also returned to his sightseeing habits whilst he marched his GM silently back to the hangar.

Wait, speaking of the hangar... didn't he say something about not knowing which way to go?

" ** _MONONOBE-SENPAI!_** " Kenji yelled from the distance. " ** _YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!_** " His Zaku waved its arms frantically. " ** _THE HANGARS ARE THIS WAY!_** "

In perfect sync, the girls groaned in exasperation, Saori also added a sigh for good measure, while Hana continued to giggle at their expense. Yukari scoffed indignantly, audibly muttering something between the lines of ' _typical Federation scum_ ' beneath her breath with a smug grin, beaming from ear to ear. Miho was quite sure the pilot'd heard of Yukari's sharp jab just now, and sent an apologetic smile at the GM's main camera, which was directed towards them.

The pilot didn't say anything about it, however, deciding to stay in his usual silence, probably even being deadpanned about it. He turned his GM around, and walked along the path that was directed by the Zaku II J-Type's pilot. Surprisingly, the ride on the GM's palms was mostly smooth and stable, despite the said Ground-Type Mobile Suit's feet were stomping hard on the ground. When Kenji's Zaku II came into view, the other boy decided to be the one who lead the formation of Mobile Suits.

Miho glanced back at the GM's optics one more time, only to be surprised, for the GM was already staring back, instead of sightseeing.

" _...What is it?_ " The voice of Innokenti spoke up dully. " _...The GM's hands not stable enough or something?_ "

The girl yelped in surprise when she realized that he was speaking to her. "Ah, err, no! Everything's fine!" She waved the both of her hands to negate any of his statement.

" _Then don't mind me..._ " He muttered through the speaker. " _...I'm just checking if the suit's AMBAC system's working or not..._ "

The ride stayed in an awkward silence after that.

* * *

Once they've arrived back at the hangars, Kenji placed the damaged Bloodhound near the first hangar, where the Federation's mechanics immediately went to work on it, while Innokenti set the girls down by the edge of the field, before quietly stomped its way back to the third hangar, where he first found his unit. Kenji, feeling unsure on what he's supposed to do, also decided to follow his senior to the third hangar to dock his Mobile Suit, with Lukas already standing by the hangar doors to direct the units back to their docking platforms.

Miho and the other girls glanced around. Even though it was already getting late, there were still no signs of the other girls nor the other school's Mobile Suits. Instead, they were greeted by the Ooarai and the _Vuelo Escuela_ 's Student Council board members. Anzu was munching on a piece of soft biscuits, the crumbs messily falling everywhere on the dirt ground, Yuzu glanced at the distance to see if there were more of the other teams returning, while Momo carried a paper on her left hand, and a pen on the other. Balthazar was still being himself, formal and full of courtesy at the face of the girls.

"Oh, um, good work on your findings, all of you!" Yuzu smiled at the group of girls.

"You're the first one to return back here," Anzu told them, and she munched some more bits of her food before continuing. "I'm surprised you guys can find anything at all in the field," She stated with amusement.

Momo checked on her paper, and looked at her watch. "The other teams have found their respective vehicles as well, and they should be arriving here shortly. But, considering that it's already way past the after-school hours, you girls may leave the school grounds immediately," She explained in a tone of business, sounding nearly practiced, even. "You will find your bags situated at the school gate's security office. Just tell the guard that you're there to claim your bags."

Not a moment too soon, their eyes caught the sight of Kenji and Lucas, directing, or rather, supporting, a wobbly Innokenti out of the third hangar and towards their location with their shoulders. Balthazar smirked knowingly when he saw the Russo-Japanese, platinum-haired Cadet already being half-awake. While the Ooarai's student council didn't really seem to care about them, it drew some look of empathy from the rest of the students, Yukari was not counted, of course.

"Great job, you guys," Balthazar's smirk turned into a grin when they reached his earshot. "See, Lukas? I knew Innokenti here can do it!"

Lukas scoffed. "Yeah, yeah, I'll pay up my loss, later."

"Um, do we have any further orders, Silva-senpai?" Kenji piped up.

"Can I please go back home now?" Kenya scowled tiredly with his swaying body. "...I'm hungry too..."

Balthazar briefly laughed at the shortest Cadet's complains. "Sure, sure! You two are dismissed. Get some rest, cause tomorrow, you'll be beginning your terms here," He told them off. "But not you, Lukas. You need to help out the guys at engineering first."

The German rolled his eyes. "You don't have to tell me twice about it. I know what to do."

* * *

After going lost several more occasions than he'd liked, Federation Pilot, Innokenti Mononobe finally found the flat that was rented by his parents. It was one of the more rarer times he'd become thankful that the Federation was kind enough to already transport his belongings to the appointed room, although he still considered the small flight of stairs that he'd supposed to climb as a curse. He looked over to the skies, to see that it has already gotten much later than he'd expected. But then again, he did got lost all the way to the space port just to find his flat.

He slowly placed a hand on the door's handle to pull it downwards.

Only that it didn't budge.

He stared blankly at the locked door for a couple of seconds before trying again.

The handle wouldn't shake, even after he added some force and effort from his own end.

And so, he stepped back from the door to scratch his head at the misfortune that befell before him. The boy looked around the floor he was in to see if there's anyone to help him from the locked-out-of-your-own-room-and-forced-to-starve-to-death-outside kind of predicament. He noticed that the room beside him had its lights on, and he could hear several girly chatters from the inside. He thought for several moments, until he decided it would be the best course of action to see if his neighbor could do anything about that.

Innokenti slowly tottered his way to the door of the flat room in question, and knocked twice on the wooden surface of said door. Whatever he did just stopped the chatters that were happening inside the room. It looked like he just got their attention, but it wasn't enough to warrant him an open door, so he tried again, harder this time. He waited for a couple of seconds with his eyes already half-closing, until the door swung open to the inside, revealing a bright light that made him to shield his eyes.

And the sight of Miho Nishizumi came into view.

Looking inside, he could also see Hana, Saori, and Yukari, all seated around a low-table with a rather wide assortment of dinner displayed on the surface. All of the girls blinked in pure shock when he also blinked back at them. Although, the Federation Cadet didn't seem to change his tired and deadpanned expression one bit. Saori's chopsticks even fell from her fingers and the wooden sticks hit the floor with some dull 'thud's. Miho's mouth was slightly agape, Hana didn't look entirely surprised at his presence, while Yukari, was shocked, and maybe even angered beyond belief.

"...Hi," Innokenti slowly raised his hand to greet them.

A round silence filled the air between the two students for a couple of seconds, before:

" ** _Ehhhhh?!_** "

* * *

" _Bon Appetit!_ "

" _Audeamus._ "  
" _S-Sieg Zeon!_ "

The group sounded collectively, with the only male in the room erupting his usual motto, which warranted him a round of laughter from the girls, some natural, some sounding rather forced, and that same threatening glare from Yukari, after she also followed suit with the infamous Zeon war cry. The girls seated themselves around the table, while Innokenti dully sat on a chair beside Miho's desk, for there was no more space available for him. He was also at least being considerate for giving the girls their private spaces by distancing himself from the group.

Naturally, there was one extra serving of white rice, as well as a small bowl filled with a well-done meat stew by Innokenti's side, Miho, being the host and all, decided that it would be best to let him join them for dinner, considering it was him, out of all people to knock on her door. And to everyone's shock, the boy surprisingly stayed calm, even when he's surrounded by girls that he didn't quite know yet. In fact, he was taking in the view of Miho's room pretty well, despite not commenting on the overabundance of bandaged teddy bears that littered her flat's room.

From what he could say, the room looked pretty normal for a girl's room. Lively room color, tidy place overall, cute decorations that's typical for girls her age. The girls then began to dig into their food and broke up into a lively chatter. Kenya just looked over to his side to grab the white rice, and the chopsticks, place a single peace of meat along with its sauce from the meat stew bowl on his mouth, and proceeded to silently eat it along the white rice with no care on the world.

"Wow," Miho breathed out. "This is so good!"

Saori nodded proudly at that, Innokenti could only assume that she was the cook. "Yeah, well, they say that a perfect meat stew is a surefire fire to make men fall in love with you!"

Hana, after swallowing the rice that was on her mouth, decided to ask, "Have you ever done this before?"

Not expecting the question, Saori's face gained a bit of color, especially on her cheeks, where faint hints of pink tainted her fair skin. "Th-this is all just practice!"

"I wonder if guys like meat stews so much," Yukari said aloud.

And then, every single eye turned to Innokenti, who was still silently eating by the desk. After realizing the pairs of eyes that were boring into him, he lowered his bowl and looked at the girls silently. Raising his eyebrows in curiosity as well.

"...What?" He asked back, unblinking. "...Oh, right, thanks for the food..." He returned back to his meal after he said that.

It was Hana's turn to blink. "I think it's only an urban legend..." She spoke aloud, leaving the others to wonder whether she was referring to Yukari's question or Innokenti's lack of reaction.

"N-No, it's not!" Saori stuttered loudly. "It's true, you know, I've read it on the magazine once!"

Miho only smiled at the two's exchange, her eyes then turned to the small, white flowers set at the center of her table. They were preserved in a milk bottle filled with water. "The flowers are very lovely too," She complimented off-handedly.

Hana turned to the War Games veteran, looking apologetic. "Oh, no... in fact, I'm sorry, that this was all I could do."

"Oh, no, no, it's fine, really!" Miho quickly waved her arms to reassure the black-haired student. "They make the room so much brighter!"

The look of shame was quickly replaced by a bashful one on Hana's face. "Oh... really? Thank you very much."

"Now..." Yukari was the next one to speak. "...Mind explaining the reason on why you are here?" She glared at the only male inside the room.

Once again, at the cue, everyone's eyes fell upon the Federation Cadet, who'd just finished his serving of white rice. He placed his own chopsticks neatly on the top of the table, and mouthed his thanks to the chef with his eyes closed. Once finished, he reopened his eyes to look back to the room's audience, to see that they were once again staring at him expectantly. He blinked, and then sighed whilst scratching the back of his platinum-colored hair.

"...I did say ' _thanks for the food_ ' earlier, right?" He questioned cautiously, earning him the view of the room doing a collective facepalm.

"That's not what I'm asking for, you!" Yukari hissed, making Miho to squeak slightly at her sudden outburst. "I was asking the reason on why you're suddenly here, at Nishizumi-dono's apartment!" She repeated her last question with a more demanding tone, before gasping dramatically and shielding Miho by standing between her and the male. "Watch out, Nishizumi-dono! I think this man might be a spy from the Federation, sent here to plot something bad to you!"

Miho blinked in surprise at the statement, while Innokenti's eyebrows rose even further upwards.

"Don't worry, Nishizumi-dono!" Yukari declared, and assumed a fighting stance. "I'll do everything in my power to protect you from this Federation scum!"

Kenya tilted his head, and then shook it slowly to prove her wrong. "Uh... no," He said simply. "I live in this apartment complex too. But I got locked out of my own room, so I was wondering if I can get some help from the neighbors at my floor," He explained. "Seeing how this is the only other room at this floor, I thought that I should knock on this one instead. But she was the one who opened the door, so..." He shrugged.

"Um, so why don't you try to contact the apartment's information desk at the ground floor?" Saori pointed out.

Innokenti, yet again, shrugged. "I'm too lazy to walk back down."

Yukari's eyebrows twitched. "H-how to you expect us to believe that kind of story?" She crossed her arms and huffed. "I mean, out of all the rooms available on this flat, why the room next to Nishizumi-dono's?"

"How should I know?" He gave a look of protest. "Look... I'm tired, and I really just want to hit the sack. Can any of you girls do something to help me?"

Hana hummed for couple of seconds, before raising a finger to the air, as if a metaphorical light bulb just went on inside her head. "Nishizumi-san, you can at least contact the desk from your phone, right?"

Miho blinked at the suggestion, and the nodded quickly. "O-oh, right, yes!" She stood up from the floor to make her way to the telephone. "Please, just wait for a moment! I'll, um, try to get someone up here as soon as possible!"

Innokenti nodded once. "...Thanks, please do."

* * *

"Um, Mononobe-senpai, was it?" Miho closed the door behind her to look if the male Federation student was still around. And not to her surprise, he was still there, standing by her nightstand, and quietly inspecting her collection of bandaged teddy bears. She'd just went down to say her goodbyes to her friends and had told him to stay at her room while the workers try to bypass his door's problems. The thing that was actually caught her off guard was the fact that the dishes were already done.

Not only that they were cleaned, they were already dried and placed tidily by the kitchen sink as well.

Kenya glanced to the chestnut-haired girl when his name was called out. "...Yeah?" He retracted his hands back to him, just barely touching one of Miho's many stuffed animals. "Oh... and you can drop the ' _senpai'_... I've checked my class's roster we're supposed to be on the same year," He shrugged plainly.

"Oh, um!" She stuttered, feeling the awkwardness rising between them. "Uh, your door, you should be able to get into your room now!" She informed. "Oh, but, uh, did you clean the dishes all by yourself?"

The male Cadet made a motion of his head, nodding. "...Yeah," He walked over to the door, where Miho was standing at. "...Thanks for the help, and the food," He wobbled past the girl and opened the door himself. "...Night," He turned his head over his shoulder one more time before walking out the door and closing it. Leaving a surprised, and disoriented Miho at the welcome mat of her own apartment room. The girl blinked a few times, before realizing that her guest just left her.

She quickly reopened the door and peered her head out from the doorway. The loud noises she'd made caught the attention of the pilot, who was already mid-way of opening the door to his room.

"Um, Mononobe-senp..." Miho cut herself off abruptly at the use of the honorific. "Mononobe-san!" She corrected herself. "I'll... uh, see you at school?"

Innokenti looked at her for a couple of seconds before nodding, not changing the tired look of his face. "Yeah... see you at school, Nishizumi-san..." He walked into his room and sealed the door.

* * *

 **Das War Games**

 **A Mobile Suit Gundam and Girls und Panzer Crossover Work of Fiction**

* * *

 **When Schools Collide II**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

How does this thing actually get some attention? Thanks for the follows.

I'm tired, and I should go to sleep now.

Sorry for the crappy story quality.


	3. Chapter 3

First, there was the alarm.

Then, there was:

" _Kenya, wake up! Kenya, wake up!_ "

The constant, annoying chirp of a certain gray, robotic ball.

Finally, there's this:

" ** _UGUGH?!_** " Federation Piloting School, Rio de Janiro branch, Second Year student, Innokenti Monobe choked when something round, hard, and especially, heavy, smacked against his stomach, punching every ounce of air from his lungs into the air. His pale brown eyes shot open, immediately going bloodshot-red soon after, as his hands reflexively moved to clutch his gut, while the both of his feet curled up to his chest, and the boy rolled around on his bed, disoriented, and obviously, in pain.

The Cadet, still dressed in his pajamas hissed and wheezed for a few more seconds until the pain began to subside. His hand left the still, somewhat sore spot, and his feet uncurled back to their place. His eyes returned to their normal color and he just laid there on his bed, with an exhausted look on his face. He blankly stared upwards at the dull ceiling, watching the working Air Conditioner softly blowing some cool air into his room. He lifted his head, and strayed his eyes around.

A night stand at the side of his bed, which was situated in the left-hand corner of the room, with a small lamp on top. A light switch at said nightstand which connected to some of the lights of the room, which he flicked to turn on some of the lighting. The once darkened interior of his room was suddenly filled with bright light. Innokenti groaned and sat upright on his bed, inspecting if anything looked out of the ordinary. There was the small kitchen, just across the bathroom alongside his wardrobe near the exit, the living room, which also counted as his study room, that was practically filled with still-unpacked goods.

The boy rubbed his head, trying to remember what happened last night. Until his mind shut itself back on to reconnect him of his memories. The moment he reached his flat room, he immediately just changed from his uniform and into his pajamas and went to bed. Without taking a bath. Now frowning, he lifted his pajamas and sniffed on it, to feel some stink coming out from his body. He sighed, looking at the clock by his nightstand, to see that it was six in the morning.

With a great deal amount of effort and determination, he finally forced himself off the bed by hopping off from it.

Only to slip on a rounded object and fall flat on his face.

His muffled, pain groan came out from the carpeted floor.

Said gray, rounded object rolled towards the faceplanted student and it flapped some of its metallic frame open.

" _Good morning, Kenya! Good morning, Kenya!_ " the robotic ball exclaimed twice.

The human being miserably lifted his face off from the ground to glare directly at the source of the voice. "...Good morning to you, Mister Sports," Surprisingly, he held his anger back, and instead, greeted the ball back, in fact, his voice even had a small amount of respect in it when he addressed the Haro, despite knowing the fact that it was the main culprit of his early morning misfortunes. The mechanical object flared its red eyes and flapped its wings-like frames a few more times, as if signifying its nonexistent happiness at the return of the greetings. Innokenti sat on the floor, grab the Haro unit with his hands, and tossed it softly onto his bed.

He stood back up, and stretched a bit, with some unhealthy, but satisfying-sounding cracks of his bones popping and echoing throughout the room, he made his way to the bathroom area of his flat, but not before pulling a gray backpack from his wardrobe and a few set of notebooks from the nearby desk. He also turned on the coffee-making machine by the kitchen counter before locking himself in the bathroom to do his daily morning rituals.

As a student of a military school, the boy was used to the concept of living alone. Choosing to stay in the local dorms or barracks rather than going home to his family even back on Earth. Only returning back to meet his parents during long holidays in-between semesters. So, considering the added fact that his current residential flat looked ten times better than your usual military dormitories, he really couldn't protest. He was glad, in fact, for this.

Staring at his own face at the mirror, Innokenti dully opened his mouth to see if his teeth were dirty, or damaged. Even though they were still squeaky-white clean, he decided that brushing them would be a good idea anyway. He undressed himself from his long-sleeved pajamas, to feel the cold air of his room's Air Conditioner immediately piercing through his bones. The boy shivered and almost autonomously used his hands to hug his body, only to flinch when his right hand made contact with his bare skin.

His clattering teeth stopped when he raised his right hand into the view of the mirror. Instead of the usual, dermis-covered, organic human hand, one could see a sleek, cold, and thin metal frame on its place, which extended all the way to his shoulder. He sighed, and decided not to stare at the rather disturbing image of his own prosthetic. Sure, his mother already did enough simply by just procuring one prosthetic for him to replace his lost arm. Still, he'd hoped that it would at least a little bit more... human. Looking at it now, his replacement hand looked like a metal skeleton, which of course, looked much thinner than an actual arm.

The Federation cadet shrugged, he really shouldn't try to think about it any further, for it hurts his brain just by remembering the event. And the phantom pain was still constantly bugging him. Despite it's been a while after said events, the ocassional but sharp pain was still returning to haunt the boy of his past. While he was really disoriented by the pain, he insisted to not take any medications to ease it, in fear that he might just get addicted to said drugs.

And so, he quietly entered the shower for a quick bath and then exited as quickly as he entered. Once he was back at the living room with nothing but a towel around his waist, he turned off the Air Conditioner of his room, thinking that he'd had just enough of cold air to pierce to his bones. The platinum-haired student then proceeded to open his wardrobe to look for his uniform. From what he'd been briefed, since they're officially students of the Ooarai now, they'd have to wear the school's standard uniform instead of the usual Federation Dress Uniform, that was mandatory for all students back on Earth.

He didn't expect the uniform to be short-sleeved.

The pilot groaned, there was a reason why he would always wear a piece of glove over his right hand, and that was to conceal his lack of skin, now, even with one, the lower part of his arm would still be exposed for the naked eyes. He picked up the tailored white shirt from the hanger, inspecting the minimal green-line patterns on its fabric, similar to the girls' uniform of Ooarai, and a formal, green school trousers. Putting them on, he immediately felt that they were much more comfortable than the heavy, and especially, hot, Dress Uniform.

That's one more reason to like the transfer, at least.

After turning off the coffee maker, and pouring its contents to his drinking flask, he tossed the tall, silver bottle to his open backpack and zipped it close. Slinging it over his one shoulder, he turned off every single light and electrical equipment of the room, opened the curtains, disconnected his phone from the charger, and made his way to the exit. He did notice the gray Haro ball, which responded to the designation of Mister Sports, rolling down the room to follow him.

"Mister Sports, Sir..." He ran his prosthetic hand over his platinum hair, feeling a slight headache if the Haro were to come along with him. It was known for being clingy. "...I need you to watch the room while I'm gone..."

The Haro stared with its red optical eyes up to the student. " _Adventure! Adventure!_ "

Innokenti shook his head, and then in a flash, hopped out from his room to the outside, suddenly. Leaving the Haro inside before it could even react even further. "... _KayThanksBye_ ," He closed the door behind him. And the sunlight that instantly hit his face, unfortunately, immediately drained all of his strength. As a one who always hated the sun, his posture wavered and even caused him to wobble to the nearest wall to support his weight. The boy groaned and damned the Colony's sunny weather.

His trembling body, with great effort, finally made it to the stairs, and he slowly stepped down to the street level.

Looking left and right, he couldn't see any students walking down on both directions of the road. For he'd forgotten his way to the school.

In fact, he didn't know which way to the school, _at all_.

"Mononobe-san?" A voice that called his name reached his ears from his back, making the already-tired boy to slowly turn his head over his shoulder. Miho Nishizumi was behind him, with a rather panicked expression on her face. "Oh, um, good morning!" She then noticed his prosthetic right arm, which already stood out the way it is, and she visibly flinched, while her face seemed to curl in pain when she see replacement limb. She deflated back to her panicked state not too long after, though.

"...Is it always so hot in the Colony...?" Was the ingenious reply that came out from his mouth to return the greetings.

The girl blinked. "...Eh?" She tilted her head after an awkward silence. "I... I'm not sure, but, um, we should hurry ourselves to school! We're already running late!"

"...Which way?" He inquired. "...To the school, I mean..."

Miho looked in a semi-understanding fashion towards the still shaky form of Innokenti, while still also giving off a restless vibe. "It's um... this way," She walks to their left, and then looked back to see if the boy was catching up. He was, but in a much slower pace than she was, apparently. "Uh... do you need any help?"

Kenya waved her off. "No... I just need too... destroy this sun... and then..." He mumbled continuously to himself, keeping his constant whining audible, however. "...I'll try my best to keep up... _I think_..." True to his words, his limbs did travel a few feet further than usual.

"...You, um, think?" The other War Games veteran repeated, because _that_ certainly didn't sound so reassuring, but seeing that he's at least trying to make an effort, she decided to not say anything that would slow them down.

With the two now walking together, no, more like, one, normally walking, and the other one looking like he was about to pass out, the way to the Ooarai High School was once again filled with a silence that one could only describe as being painfully awkward, and not to mention, embarrassing, not because of the Nishizumi was walking with a boy to school, no, far from that. But it was because she was directing a guy that looked like a drunkard more than a student. Innokenti's uncharacteristically-colored platinum hair and his prosthetic arm already directed many unwanted attention to them on their own right.

But walking like an absolute drunk was on another different level. The girl could be seen bowing her head downwards, trying to apologize for the boy's erratic behavior at every passerby that looked at them. Well, at the very, very least, he still has enough energy to propel himself into a light jog to keep up with her, who was already starting to get both impatient and agitated from his pace and his strange actions. That said, attempts to make some simple conversations were immediately shot down by her embarrassed-self whenever she noticed a few people were directing their gazes their way.

It was not long, however, for the two to stumble on another student of Ooarai, female, in a similar state, like Innokenti, although, worse. Miho silently gulped, and she could already feel the migraine coming when they faced the individual. Said girl was short. Shorter than Miho, apparently, and has a long, black hair, with a white hairband on her forehead that did little to hold back the long strands of her bangs. If Innokenti looked like he was about to pass out, then this girl looked like she was about to die.

"Um..." Miho, however, still felt obliged to ask about her condition. "Are you alright?"

"...Painful..." The girl muttered back.

"...Isn't it...?" Innokenti added.

And Miho choked in shock at the two's sudden synergy. "Wha-?!"

"...Life is painful..." Her head swayed left and right, before it leaned against a nearby street pole.

The Federation Cadet nodded his head knowingly. "...And so is the weather..."

"...I wish this were a dream..." She slid on her feet into a crouched position.

"Then again... don't we all...?" While Innokenti took her place by leaning his head on the same pole she'd been leaning on instead.

Miho Nishizumi should really head into the nurse's office to get herself some paracetamol later, for that migraine just became a reality.

"E-err... you two should get a grip!" She finally found her scolding voice, moving closer to help the girl to stand on her feet.

"...But we should go...!" The girl suddenly broke free of Miho's supporting hands and began to march forward yet again.

And even the boy tried to get back to his previous pace, only to fail horribly when the other student's lack of energy got contagious to him. "...If not... we will..."

Now Miho was seriously questioning herself if these two knew each other.

Either way, it seemed like there was no choice for her but to help these two to get to school.

* * *

The school gate was nearly closed. Heck, it might've even already been. The trio of students, or more like, a solo of student, and a duo of walking-talking-breathing and humanoid sloths stopped when they saw that the gate only had a small bit of an opening, and yet another female student, obviously from Ooarai, stood guard at the front. It made Innokenti wonder if the school actually has any formal security guards, since the _Vuelo Escuela_ 's main gate was guarded by a fireteam of Federation personnel.

The girl tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the group to reach earshot, before producing a clipboard with a paper and a pen on it.

"Reizei-san," She began exasperatedly. "This is the 245th day in a row you've been late."

Miho blankly turned her head to the girl on her shoulder. Did she say, more than two hundred, consecutive days being late?

"...Nice," Innokenti flashed a deadpanned thumbs up.

"No, it really is not," The guard of the gate flatly replied at his response, pausing for a moment when she took note of his prosthetic. "You too... Innokenti Mononobe-san, is it?" She checked on her clip to confirm the boy's name, and then got back to the tottering Cadet in question. "Already tardy on your first day here..." She mumbled, voice sounding condescending somewhat. "You know that this isn't going to bode well on your overall score in this semester, right? Please be mindful of the time."

"...Why does morning even come?" The other, wobbly student, mumbled warily.

"Morning always comes..." The one, who was not Miho and Kenya, pinched her forehead. "Don't blame me if you have to repeat a year just because you think your good grades can make it up for your lateness."

The student in question groaned, causing Miho to ask up, "Um, is she alright?"

"I should be asking the same question to Mononobe-san right here..." The guard of the gate pointed her pen towards the male, but then sighed. "...Nishizumi-san, Mononobe-san, look, if you ever see Reizei-san on her way to school, I want the both of you to let her use of her resources now," She pulled out a pocket watch to check for the time. "Just this time, because the two of you don't seem to know of her, I could make an exception, you two are only late by a few minutes, anyway, but please."

Miho numbly nodded, and smiled apologetically and appreciatively at her lenience for them. Innokenti, who was already nodding off, composed himself when his name was spoken aloud. He gave a slow, single nod without really saying anything or conveying any implicit metamessages from his neutral body posture. The one referred to as Reizei by the other girl, gave her a disapproving frown, in which she returned with the same intensity.

Once they've passed the gate, the three silently paced themselves to the school's entrance.

Only for this Reizei girl to speak up. "...Hey, sorry 'bout that..."

Miho shifted her head to look at her, but she was directing her own eyes at the ground. "Um, it's alright."

"...I'll make it up to you guys somehow..."

For some reason, while Miho doubted that she would be able to return any favors she might ask of her, her voice sounded true and sincere. At least, it earned her a nod from her fellow Nishizumi wondered how these two understood each other, considering their faces held as much expressions as a rock, even more so when she added the fact that they literally just met. After giving it some further thought, she decided to safe it for later. They were already late for their own classes anyway.

* * *

"...The weather is disgusting..."

The one who complained swayed his body left and right, using his limp hands to shield his head from the sunlight. Innokenti Mononobe, and the other War Games members were situated by the hangars. Just after the earlier morning's events, they trio got into class to start the day, only some of them didn't expect that the PA of the school announced that the said extracurricular members were expected on the field by the first break period. Miho was slightly concerned that she would miss the day's worth of studies, but let it slide once she realized that despite it's her second day there, the school would still re-do the homeroom for the new Federation students, thus, cancelling any studying-related activity for the day.

For Kenya, the first few hours of being on his new school was rather, uneventful, at least for him. With his seat located at the dead-center of the class, literally at the middle row, and the middle column, it already doomed him from doing any sightseeing out the window. The hot weather itself really wasn't helping him with his lack of energy and his temper. He'd hoped that he could get to eat his food at the break period, but then, of course the school's Student Council just had to call for them to the field.

Still, at least, he saw some friendly faces during the introduction period of the class, some Federation Second Year students, that were once his junior, Kenji included, were located in his class. Some of the other War Games members, like Miho and the other girls were also in the same homeroom as his. But considering they're seated in a rather unreachable position from him, he had to endure the day by sitting next to a stranger that he didn't know at all, and to which said stranger kept glancing uncomfortably at his prosthetic hand.

"Mononobe-senpai, um, you're not going to... pass out, are you?" Kenji held his fellow Cadet's shoulders, trying to straighten his posture.

"...The sun is our true enemy..." Kenya muttered with a slurred and shaky voice. "...Never, ever praise the sun..."

The sounds of the massive hangar doors, creaking open, made several of the female students to cover their ears at the inconvenience. The male part of the group turned their backs to look at the unfolding gates of the first hangar, the same place where the school kept their armored vehicles. They could see the engineers of both the Ooarai's automotive club and the Federation-turned-Ooarai mechanics team directing an assortment of five, armored vehicles, all of them, although looked better than when they'd found yesterday, were still dirty and dusty, and not to mention, greasy, from all of the work done by the engineers.

The rest of the group, both male, and female resounded in an impressed hum, and a few chatters broke up at the sight of the fighting vehicles, with the guys talking mostly about the vehicles' characteristics, while the female part of the spectrum commented on how they look in general. Their chatters were silenced when the combined group of both schools' Student Council board took their place in front of them. Anzu, as usual, was snacking on something that looked like a dried sweet potato, much to the envy and starvation of Innokenti, who'd skipped his breakfast.

"Alrighty, guys, listen up!" Balthazar's powerful voice made sure that every last one of the War Games' members zipped their mouths. "We've got a few announcements to make, so make sure you all keep those ears of your open!" He stepped aside to let Anzu take his place.

The girl munched on her snack for a few more seconds before swallowing it. "...Ho-kay... so, sorry to break it to you guys so suddenly... but because of a minor inconvenience, the instructor won't be coming today."

A few more chatters and some disappointed groans came as a response from the group in general. Saori, in particular, seemed to look the most disheartened by the news.

"...But we'll be assigning you girls to the tanks, at least!" The short third-year of Ooarai added quickly, in a lazy attempt to defend herself.

"I don't want to hear any complains from you guys, since you all already have your Mobile Suits!" The Brazilian Earthborn student barked, killing off any ideas that the male group might have regarding the matter. "So enjoy your sausage fest for the time being, and be a good prince! These are girls you guys will be covering during your matches!"

Momo cleared her throat, and her hand began to sift through her clipboard filled with the armored vehicles' names. "We have the M61 Type CT-2 ' _Littorio'_ Cruiser Tank, the HT-01D ' _Magella_ _Assault_ ' Tank Destroyer, an M353A4-K ' _Bloodhound_ ' Hover Truck – Modified, other name pending," She paused at the strange designation given by the paper, and continued after pushing her single eyeglass up to meet her eyes. "An M61 Type FSU-3 ' _Andrea Doria'_ Medium Artillery Unit, and the M61 Type A3 ' _Barsele'_ Medium Tank," She closed the list of tanks in front of them and turned to the president. "How shall we divide them?"

"Let's see…" Anzu put one hand on her hip and put up another to her chin. "How 'bout everyone gets what they found?"

Yuzu shifted her glance away from the tanks to look at the president unsurely. "Are… are you sure that's a good idea?"

Momo shrugged formally. "We will be taking the _Bloodhound_ ," She then looked over her shoulders, and placed her eyes directly to Miho and her group of girls. "You can take the _Barsele_."

Miho blinked the moment she was addressed by the PR Manager of the school. "Oh, um… right," She nodded without protest.

Yukari wasn't very happy with the tank, though.

"Um, Sir!" One of the male First Year Cadet raised his hand into the air, prompting everyone to look at him. "But what about the Mobile Suit teams? Or the Fire Teams in general?"

Balthazar clicked his fingers and pointed his index finger at the boy. "Good question. I was just about to announce this to you guys anyway," He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket to give it a brief look, only for a disgruntled expression to form on his face. He crumple up the paper, much to everyone's surprise, threw it away, and groaned. "…Kay, since I'm bad with name-callings and stuff, why don't we strike a deal? You guys helped the girls to find these vehicles yesterday, right? I've you guys split into teams of two back then, so why don't you just stick with that, and just stay with the girls you've assisted? I'll be using our old group names to designate you guys, though. Sounds good?"

Some of the guys began to mumble about something, before nodding in sync, whilst saying something like ' _fair enough'_ or another thing, similar with that line. They began to huddle up with the group of girls that they'd helped the day before. Kenji, feeling that the crowd has dispersed, leaving him alone and in the open, quickly made his feet to turn towards Miho and her own group of girls. Innokenti was the only one who stayed, at his place, the pilot still trying to process the information that went to his mind. Balthazar looked at the complete group and quickly scribbled down a paper and gave it to the Ooarai's council board.

Momo nodded back at everyone's approval, she began to read aloud what was written on the paper. "In that case, The _Barsele_ , along with Argus Team will be Fire Team A, the _Littorio_ and Centaurus Team will be Fire Team B, Fire Team C and Charon Team gets the _Magella Assault_ , Fire Team D, that gets the _Andrea Doria_ will have their flanks covered by Medusa Team, while we of Fire Team E will take command of the Bloodhound and will be accompanied by _Orthus_ Team," She put away the paper onto her clipboard before continuing. "We have been told that the Instructor would not come until tomorrow, I expect you all to get familiar with each other, and have already made your tank presentable by then."

"…Now I'm wondering even more, about what kind of person he is…!" Saori spoke dreamily to herself, snapping into a girly giggling fit, Yukari could be visibly seen taking one step away from the daydreaming student out of discomfort.

While the rest of the girls started to pile onto their tank to check their condition, Balthazar signaled the former Federation students to gather at his location. Kenji then excused himself from the girls to grab the still sun-dazed Innokenti to group up along with the pilots to see what their own president has in store for them. They did notice several more trucks unloading some gears into the Mobile Suit hangars, and the mechanics have turned their attention away from the armored vehicles to assist the workers with their own work.

Balthazar counted the boys, and after making sure everyone was accounted for, he jabbed a thumb towards the open Mobile Suit hangars.

"Alright, all of you, because of the delay in the flight, we've only managed to get the weapons for your Mobile Suits today. So, I want you to coordinate with the rest of the engineers to get your units packed and ready. My orders are pretty much similar to Miss Anzu, Miss Yuzu, and Miss Momo over there. Today, all of you are to just get along with your appointed Fire Teams, help out the girls if they need any assistance or questions regarding the activity, and as I've said before, arm your units. There's a high chance that we'll be beginning our first training together, tomorrow, so I expect you all to do your utmost," His voice was unlike usual, it was stern, and commanding. "Any questions?"

One of the male students who was with _Andrea Doria_ , and Fire Team D raised his hand.

Balthazar ordered him to proceed. "Go ahead, Genette. What is it?"

"Yeah... um, I have just one question, who's Orthus Team?" He asked curiously. "I mean, the others, I can make my way around it, since they're basically us Cadets. But... uh, Orthus?"

The Brazilian could feel the faintest hints of smirk growing on his lips at the question. "You don't know? It consists of me and Kevinson right there," He pointed a finger at another male within the group.

And a round of silence took over the males for a few seconds.

"What?!" Most of them resounded, Innokenti and the mentioned Kevinson were excluded.

"We're supposed to be facing the third years?!"  
"Dude, forget about the year-thingy, we're going against the Student Council?!"  
"And the prez's leading the charge too!"  
"Damn it, this is unfair..."

The sudden wave filled with complains wasn't exactly what Balthazar was hoping for. "Whoa, whoa, settle down!" He raised the both of his hands to calm the group. "Just because I'm a third year, and the Student Council president, doesn't mean I'm good at this!" He explained, shrugging as he did so. "Just ask Kevinson, he's seen me in action, and I think the both of us would agree that you should be more mindful if you're going against Argus Team."

Kevinson nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose. "The former Argus Actual's a freaking monster... guessed that's why they named your team after an actual monster, eh?" He nudged to the still swaying Innokenti.

And the Cadet in question only blinked when the other student made some physical contact. "...Huh...?" He muttered tiredly. "...What are we doing again? Is it after-school hours now? Or is it... at least, the second break period...?"

The pilots glanced towards Argus Two, and after seeing and hearing his response they looked back at their council president with disbelieved looks. But this time, Kenji wasn't in the equation. For he knew that his wingman was a force to be reckoned with, despite his usual state. The fact that he was the son of a full-pledged Londo Bell Colonel was already enough that he's not the kind to be joked around with. Add a bit of his history of piloting his Thunderbolt GM during the tournament, and that should be enough.

Balthazar shrugged. "What? I ain't joking!" He pointed to the shortest male student in general. "Innokenti here got picked to join the tourneys last year for a reason, you know!" After saying that, a few of the boys gasped in surprise. "...Come, come, now! You guys still have your objectives. Now, get to work already! Dismissed!"

" _Que quem quis sempre pode!"_

" _Audeamus_..."

* * *

Kenji Iyamamoto sat quietly inside his Zaku II J-Type's cockpit, his hands typing away on the keyboard to adjust the ancient Operating System to suit his needs. He tested his hands and feet on the throttle and the flight sticks and returned to make some more further adjustments to the unit's console. The reaction time of the Zeon Mobile Suit wasn't as fast as he'd hoped, and he was looking to rectify that. He flapped his hands onto himself, fanning his body from the heat that was the cramped interior of the cockpit.

Looking to his left, and then to his right, he could see the other Mobile Suit teams already assigning some specific equipment to their own units with the help of the workers and the engineers. Which reminded him, that he too, should also look for any compatible armaments that his Zaku could use. Since the first generation Zaku units weren't installed with beam generators, their option of weaponry was tightly limited. At least even the earliest GM Mobile Suits were compatible enough to use a Beam Rifle.

The Japanese swiped his hand across the touchscreen of his console, shifting through pages of available weapons for his Zaku. When he was still looking, and analyzing, he could hear someone calling for him from the outside of the suit. He dismissed the info screen to bring back the main camera into view. His Zaku shifted its optic downward to see Lukas Auttenberg, waving the both of his hands to grab his attention. Kenji almost replied to him via the loudspeaker, but he then remembered that it would cause inconvenience to the rest of the working crews of the hangar, and so, he decided against it, and instead, opened his cockpit's hatch and hopped over to the edge.

Once his face peeked out from the cockpit, Lukas stopped waving his arms, believing that he'd gotten his attention.

"Hey, Kenji!" He yelled from the ground side. "You and Innokenti here are the only guys who haven't armed your suits! Made up your minds yet?!"

Kenji scratched the back of his head, and considered the options one more time in his mind, before,

" _I'll be the armor-hunter..._ " Innokenti's dull voice erupted and echoed throughout the hangar, causing several heads to turn to the RGM-79[G]. The GM, after feeling the multiple stares that were directed at it, turned its head back to the crowd. " _...What?_ " At the deadpanned question, some of the crew just did a collective sigh, while most of the others decided to ignore him and return to their routines. Some of the pilots did take note of his choice and wrote the information down.

Lukas was still in the middle of his facepalm. "...You basically just announced your role on the field to everyone else, you dumbass!"

" _...What's wrong with that...?_ " Kenya inquired, still using the speaker of his GM, although, this time, his voice was left ignored and unheard of by the rest of the hangar.

"Um, I think it's because the opposing teams could use this to their advantage, Mononobe-senpai. Once they know of our role in the simulations, they could prepare themselves better beforehand by picking a more suitable equipment to counter ours," Kenji explained from his open cockpit hatch, so that his voice wouldn't come out from his own Zaku's speakers. "I... um, I think it would be best if you switch your role now while you can, to avoid any unwanted events in the future matches."

The German engineer nodded at the suggestion. "Yeah, your Team Lead's right, y'know. I'm surprised you didn't know of this already, dude... considering you're already a veteran at the simulations. Besides... aren't you the more of that... get-in-up-close-and-personal kind of guy? I mean, that's the reason why you told us to tune your Thunderbolt GM's thrusters' output, right?" He asked, before sighing warily. "But, then again... no one ever knows what's going on with that head of yours..."

The GM's head was looking elsewhere, particularly to the front of the hangar, before it returned to look at the engineer. " _...We still have the one-eighty-mike-mike cannon and the mobile field ordnance weapon rack, right...?_ "

Lukas groaned. " _The guy wasn't even listening..._ " The boy muttered beneath his breath, irritated. "Still going with that choice, huh? Alright, your loss. Well, in that case, yeah. We still have some spare. I'll get the guys to bring in the gig for you. You have to calibrate them yourselves, though," He called for the other workers to transport a large, and long handheld cannon, along with a pale tan, metal backpack, in which it opened up to reveal an assortment of simunitions and a Hyper Bazooka. The German then turned to the other member of the Argus team. "So, whaddya want for your Zaku, kid? I've figured you're gonna pick something more... _conventional_ compared to Innokenti here."

Kenji was thoughtful. "Um... considering that we are teamed up with Nishizumi-san and the others, who are already manning the _Barsele_ , which already excels at medium-to-long range combat with their one-twenty millimeter cannon, and Mononobe-senpai's choice to become the armor-hunter as our team's support unit, it leaves our Fire Team with no able member to do all the close-range combat. We'll be at a disadvantage if one manages to close the gap..." He mumbled, mostly to himself, but the Engineer downstairs was listening intently. "...That said... I think we also need at least one weapon that can provide suppressing fire to the enemy... so... um, Auttenberg-senpai?"

Lukas crossed his arms, a knowing smirk on his face. "Yeah, kid? Anything you need?"

"Are there any Zaku Machine Gun lying around that I can use? Oh, and, um, if it's not troubling you and the others, I'd also like machine gun to be loaded with the ninety-millimeter cartridges," He requested politely. "And... uh, a couple of cracker grenades too, if... that's, um, okay with you."

The engineer gave him his approval by flashing a thumbs up, and going elsewhere to fetch him the requested armaments for his Zaku. Returning to a few minutes later, with a small truck towing the equipment, Lukas along with the other workers hoisted the weaponry to both the Zaku J-Type and the GM Ground-Type for the pilots to calibrate their sensors at the newly obtained weapons on their Mobile Suits' systems.

"You know, kid," Lukas's voice reached to Kenji's ears whilst he was busying himself with the calibration process. "You actually have the potential."

The Japanese pilot motioned his main camera to pan down to look at the Engineer, but the Cadet himself didn't say anything, for his voice might just erupt from his Zaku's loudspeaker. His silent response was enough signal for the mechanic to understand that he was lost at his sudden remark of him.

"Being the Argus Actual, I mean," Lukas elaborated, stepping onto the platform which held the Zeon Mobile Suit in place, only to sit there, and spectate the girls of Ooarai, who were tinkering with their own Armored Vehicles. "I don't know if Innokenti saw it in you, but there's gotta be a reason why he decided to step down from being the Team Leader," He looked away from the girls to watch the still Ground-Type GM, with its hands holding its newly obtained 180mm canon, and its backpack fitted with the field ordnance weapon rack.

Kenji's hands stopped typing on the keyboard, and his shoulders stiffened a bit, he shifted himself into a more comfortable position, before beginning to type again, all while still trying to listen to the engineer.

"Still," After much pause, he finally hopped back down to the ground. "...how should I say this, huh... uh... the Crazy Ivan, while he doesn't really think before making decisions... what he makes, they're usually good choices. And looking at your progress now, I think you'll do just fine."

The Argus Leader breathed out a content sigh, and a shy smile made its way to form on his lips.

"So, by the way," The Engineer looked back towards the girl, now with a mischievous grin on his face. Curious, Kenji motioned his Zaku's main camera over to the general direction of which Lukas was staring at. He could see from his Heads Up Display, that the girls were in the middle of the cleaning session of their tanks. With the most of them already changed into gym clothes. "Which one got your eye, eh?"

It took him a minute to process the information, all while listening to the loud chatters of the girls.

"Saori-san, please stop that, It's really cold!"  
"Whoa, I'm all soaked!"  
"My underwear is showing..."

Kenji's hands twitched, and he choked, his voice got caught in the mic and making his Zaku to as if chortle in pain when he realized what the engineer was getting at, the same time, his calibration process was interrupted, and an error screen was shown at his HUD, signifying a pause on the progress. Feeling significantly more embarrassed now at the girls' lack of modesty, the still straining and choking pilot pulled his Zaku's optics away from the Armored Vehicles. This gained him some strange looks from some of the hangar hands. Even Innokenti's GM head swayed over to the side to check if his flight lead was okay.

The Japanese Cadet then proceeded to open the hatch of his cockpit and hopped out from it, crawling to the edge of the hatch. He sniffed and exhaled hard to get his composure back into him. Lukas only glanced at him with a weird look.

"You okay, kid?"

The Japanese groaned before answering, "Th-that was, um, an indecent question, Auttenberg-senpai...!" He found his voice of protest, and immediately said it aloud.

Lukas blinked, and then snorted in amusement at his answer. "Eh, you're no fun, kid. Look around you! Even the first years and the student council can't help but too... zoom in, from their Mobile Suits," The individual broke up into a light snicker when he pointed a finger towards the rest of the units in the hangar, who were, true to his words, directing their optics over to the female members of the War Games activity. "Ain't that the truth, huh, Innokenti?"

Clicking sounds were heard from the GM's loudspeaker, and its head unit was glancing directly at the engineer.

Lukas's eyebrows twitched. "You're not... trying to shoot me, are you?"

The fifty-eight tonnes of walking giant's head lifted slightly upwards, and looked away from the German. " _...No..._ " The pilot of the said unit answered slowly, only to tut when its face has fully turned away. " _...Tch... I forgot that this GM doesn't have any Vulcan Guns..._ "

"H-hey, so you were trying to shoot me!" The German staggered back. "Damn it, if you're gonna lie, at least actually try to hide it!" He yelled at the Mobile Suit. "Jesus, are you trying to kill me? Don't tell me you also hate me now for suggesting this kind of thing..."

" _...Not really..._ "

Lukas moaned in pain at his answer. He then turned to Kenji. "You see here, kid? This guy is supposed to be your senior. Simunitions, especially the Vulcans won't kill. I know, but you're just pushing your luck, dude."

Kenji laughed nervously, and then thought that he should let them be.

* * *

 _"Cheers!"_

 _"...Audeamus..."_  
 _"Sieg Zeon!"_

The sounds of aluminium cans, clicking against one another, and then a single, silver metal flask raised later, the newly-formed Fire Team A gulped down the contents of the drinks from their respective containers. The members of the recently-founded squad sat around a table, within a small convenience store by the street just on the way between the Ooarai and Miho's and Innokenti's apartment. On Hana's and Saori's suggestions, the group agreed to buy some pre-heated dinner from said store to enjoy it there along with some canned beverages.

One could see Innokenti slumped over by the same table the Fire Team had seated before, he lazily lowered his flask down from the air and into his mouth and started to chug down the coffee inside.

And Hana's sharp nose seemed to catch the distinct smell of the drink from his flask. "My, are you drinking coffee at this hour, Mononobe-san?" She asked the obviously tired-looking boy.

The boy mumbled something with his head still facing downwards, before raising it to meet her face. "...Yeah..." He replied, probably repeating what he'd just said before.

Saori blinked, looking amused at the same time. "Whoa, really? Can you sleep after getting yourself that much caffeine, this late, no less? Because I know I can't," She put a single piece of meat from the styrofoam container into her mouth and began to munch on it along with some white rice. "Oh, right, sorry, Bon Appetit, everyone!"

At the salutations given from the girl, everyone nodded back at her.

"...Coffee doesn't really help me..." Innokenti muttered, poking his index finger occasionally at his own flask. "I don't know why, but caffeine just doesn't wake me up. Even energy drinks can't really seem to open my eyes... or give me wings..."

Kenji shifted himself uncomfortably on his seat. The boy was unused to being surrounded by the opposite gender, and his senior wasn't exactly doing anything to break the ice. "I'm pretty sure that it was just for the advertisement purposes, Mononobe-senpai," The Cadet chuckled awkwardly. "Although, I'm also surprised that you don't seem to be... energized by that," He then turned to the girls. "Um, regarding the colony... are you sure that it'll be safe for us to conduct the War Games here? I... I mean, despite being simunitions, we will be using explosives and all... I'm, uh, sure that we wouldn't cause any leaks on the walls."

Miho, after gulping her own soft drink and placing the can down on the table, looked towards the Earthborn Japanese. "I'm sure that the Ooarai's structure could withstand all the simulations the school will be performing, knowing that... from what I've know, that is, this Colony was built with the interest of conducting War Games, after all."

"So, you two are really from the Federation?" Saori piped up, disregarding the earlier answer about the caffeine and stuff. "I've always been curious... has it always been like this for you guys? I mean, the guys, piloting the Gundams, and the girls driving the tanks?"

The male pilots looked at her, but it was the Japanese who hummed thoughtfully at her question, he also raised a finger.

"Actually, no," The younger pilot answered. "Back at Earth, the War Games has been really diverse on its gender distribution. It's just that, of course, the activity itself would attract more males than females of the school," He told her informatively.

Yukari, who has been silent, finally spoke up, despite being somewhat hesitant. "But... I think I've seen some female students back when you guys enrolled to Ooarai back on the first day. Where are they?"

Every single member of the Fire Team turned their heads toward her in surprise, she was actually being lenient and if not, curious about the Cadets. Innokenti was excluded. As usual. Instead, he only motioned his head on the table so that his face could see her. The girl who just voiced her thoughts flinched at the sudden attention, given towards her, and was about to do a rebuttal, especially to the Federation pilots, but finally decided against to do so.

Kenji was relieved, somewhat, that she gave them a chance, true to the timid smile slowly forming on his face. "Um... while it's true that some of us transferred to Ooarai to help with the War Gaming efforts, but some others decided to enroll here with formal education in mind."

"...Lukas is one example..." Kenya mumbled, complementing to his Team Leader's elaboration. "...He always wanted to join the Anaheim Engineering Team, but his interest in Mobile Suits got him to our school... all of the physical exercises aren't his cup of tea... so, he transferred here along with us to finish his High School education and... you know the rest..." He closed his mouth, not wanting to explain further.

"Although, Saori-san, um, I think you might be mistaken on one part," Kenji faced the student, who blinked, and then posed a curious look when their eyes met. "We are piloting Mobile Suits, not Gundams."

Miho nodded to support his statement. "It's a common misconception amongst the general public, but Iyamamoto-san is correct. While Gundams are also technically Mobile Suits, they're... not exactly what they're piloting."

"...Gundam-type Mobile Suits are on a whole different level... that's why, even we main branches of the Piloting School, rarely see one of those getting deployed in the War Games..." Innokenti added. "...It's not like we're prohibited to use one of them during the simulations... it's just that Gundam-type Mobile Suits are already expensive from the get-go. To modify and refit it for the War Games would take more funds than the school would like. There are still some schools, and our branches that use Gundam-types as their trump cards, though..."

"Gundam-type units are well-known for being more advanced than your usual Mobile Suits," Yukari began with a voice similar to those who have the occupation as teachers. "They possess the strength, endurance, and sometimes speed, far greater than their mass-produced counterpart. All of the warring states have used the term Gundam as a war machine that could outmatch and outperform even a full detachment of Mobile Suits. Although I'm sure that this is wrong. The Federation has also deployed several Gundam-types to not only gain the advantage over their enemies, but also as a means of propaganda and mental warfare. This is most notably known during the One Year War, where they would send out several Gundam-types to crush the enemies both physically and morally."

The group looked at the girl, who was still droning on and on with her explanation, with amazement at her knowledge on history. Once again, the tired Kenya was of course counted out of the equation.

"You guys, are Earthborn, too, huh?" Saori mused, gleaning at the two with interest on her eyes. "Hey, why don't you two tell us about yourselves for a change?"

Kenji and Kenya glanced at each other, and then to the girl who just suggested such to them. Kenya kept his body slumped, and his silent treatment was enough gesture to the Japanese that he should be the one who begin first.

And so, he did. "Oh, um. Well, I'm, uh, Kenji Iyamamoto," He introduced himself again, his social awkwardness getting the better of him. "But... I, uh, I suppose all of you have already know of this... well, I was born in Hokkaido, Japan, for starters... and I, uh... joined the Piloting School because of my family. My father works as a teacher at one of the main branches back on Earth, and he enrolled me to the Latin American Branch of the school. He said that it was one of the better schools around."

Innokenti leveled his eyes to stare at his own flask. "...My family has a long military history... but I enrolled to the _Vuelo Escuela_ on my own accord..."

Yukari's eyebrows rose. "Really? I've thought that the pressure would be greater if your whole family's a member of the service."

Kenji nodded his head to agree with the girl. "That's what I've been thinking as well, considering your father's an officer of the Londo Bell's Sixteenth Special Operations Division."

"...My parents are actually against me, joining the Piloting School... but they finally agreed anyway..."

"But why did you two join the War Games, though?" Hana queried curiously.

Kenji rubbed his hands together to shake off his anxiety. "I only recently joined the simulations myself. I've only been doing the mandatory Virtual Reality training, so this is pretty new to myself as well. The War Games, back at Earth, at least, used to be compulsory to all second and third year students, but after..." He shifted his gaze to his wing man, who returned his uncomfortable look with a neutral one. "...After an... um, incident, involving something, the board changed the War Games to just be an extracurricular activity. But to attract more members, First Years are now also welcome to join the simulations."

"...I just like big things beating the stuff out of each other..." The older pilot said simply.

Everyone seemingly sweatdropped at his reasoning.

"I... guess that's a good reason as any..." Miho tried awkwardly.

"...Now if you guys don't mind me asking..." Innokenti raised a lazy hand up into the air, catching the Fire Team's attention. It was pretty rare for him to be the initiative. "...Why's she carrying a military backpack with her...?" His raised hand's fingers curled one by one until the index portion was pointed towards Yukari. The girl flinched at the direct question, while everyone seemed to be surprised at his lack of subtlety.

But true enough, Yukari was indeed slinging a large, green military backpack on her shoulders, with said back looking nearly twice her size, the question, however, was already enough for her to become slightly defensive on herself.

Seeing her retreating posture, Kenji quickly raised a hand. "Um...! I think, Mononobe-senpai only wants to know what you're carrying inside your bag, Yukari-san!" The Japanese supplemented/rectified his fellow pilot's wording.

The Ooarai student visibly relaxed once she was reassured by the junior pilot. A knowing smirk slowly crept to her lips. "Well, if that's you're curious about, then I should probably elaborate my..." She dramatically produced the contents that were hidden inside her bag in speed, leaving Kenji slightly amazed and Innokenti raising his eyebrows. She spread a set of military survival, both short, and long-term survival tools, like eating utensils, medicines, and and several water purifier units. "...Essentials!" She finished proudly.

Kenya audibly hummed, impressed. "...Whoa... I didn't know that school-life here would be so life-threatening..." He muttered, mostly to himself, and then nodding in approval. "...I don't see how the utensils being essentials, though..." He pointed out bluntly.

"I don't think that's the case..." Saori mumbled to the platinum-haired Cadet. "...And I think you're responding to the wrong context, here..."

Kenji smiled exasperatedly along with the rest of the Fire Team, both at her gear and his senior's reaction. "These are... very, um..." Knowing that he was at a lost for words at how strange the situation he was in, and whilst also trying to be polite, he offered a light smile over to the excited girl, who was still showing off her collection of military survival kit. "...impressive, Yukari-san," He commented after finding the right word inside his brain.

Yukari's smug smile grew, but it faded the same time it's shown, she didn't say anything back afterwards either.

"...By the way, Mononobe-san," Hana piped up curiously. "Is it true, that you're also an experienced member of the War Games simulations?"

Innokenti could be seen shifting his bod slightly on his seat, as if stiffening. "...Yeah..." Was the only answer that came back, which sounded neither melancholic nor happy.

Yukari's eyes could be seen snapping between the senior pilot and Miho beside her. "You're just like Nishizumi-dono, then...?" Her statement had a tone of inquiry on it, making it sound like a question rather than a simple informative talk.

Both pilots' eyes fell on the chestnut-haired girl in question, with Kenji looking pleasantly surprised at the fact.

"Oh, wow, really? Miho-san, you're a veteran at this?" The Japanese asked, voice raising several pitches.

Miho, only stayed in an uncomfortable silence, her face showed clear signs of hesitation and uneasiness regarding the matter. Although, only a few individuals picked up her distressed state.

"...I'm looking forward to us, being together on the same Fire Team..." Innokenti suddenly voiced himself to the group, catching everyone of Fire Team A by surprise. The still-slumped Cadet had his flask raised by his trembling hand. "...let's just hope that we can do our best... I guess..."

The other team members had their sights focused on the student, who just uncharacteristically spoke like that.

But none of them protested. In fact, they seemed to welcome his sudden change of attitude.

And Miho was at least grateful that they weren't paying attention to her anymore.

She only hoped that the fellow veteran wasn't shooting a look that practically screamed ' ** _YOU OWE ME_** ' right at her.

Still, she should thank him later, at least. For now, she just gave him a thankful, and appreciative look.

* * *

"...I want to destroy the sun with a Colony Laser..."

Kenji Iyamamoto uneasily laughed at his fellow pilot's chagrin of the weather. True, the more senior member of the War Games simulations always hated the sun for some unknown reasons, and from what he'd read, his combat capabilities increased tenfold during cloudy or rainy weathers, but looking at his wobbly state now, it looked like as if the sun was leeching his life energy out from him slowly, but surely. The platinum-haired Cadet looked genuinely tortured by the sunlight, which was still ironically, cool, due to the time, still being early in the morning.

The whole War Games members of the Ooarai-Federation teams were gathered by the field before the hangars, again, by the first break period by the school's Student Council, this time, though, they were already grouped in their own Fire Teams. Miho looked around her, to see that most of the engineers were already bringing out the Mobile Suits from their hangars, signifying that some action would happen that day. Still, the promised instructor was still nowhere to be seen.

"The instructor is late... again," Saori whined, disappointment coloring her speech, and her face. "Adults sure like to keep you in suspense, don't they?"

As if on cue, though, the nearby hatch that led the colony's population to the Ooarai Space Port opened, and a single, white Type-94 Base Jabber Sub-Flight Carrier flew into the area, with a lone RGM-89R Jegan A-Type riding on the top of it swooped into the Colony's inner airspace and circled low around the Ooarai's field, of course, this captured everyone's once-scattered attention into the Earth Federation Space Force's marine-green Mobile Suit. Most of the girls resounded to the sight of the unit with an impressed cry, while the males didn't really seem to care about the stunts the Base Jabber were doing.

After a few more seconds of flying fast and low, the Base Jabber flew over to the parking area of the school, which was right beside the field. The Jegan A-Type promptly detached its limbs from the platform and it descended down to the ground at high speed. Once its feet slammed hard, the ground shook slightly, while the Mobile Suit's legs skidded along the road, and then fully stopping, but not before hitting a red car parked near the edge of the parking lot.

Some of the students flinched, for that car belonged none other than the Ooarai's headmaster.

"Th-the principal's car!" Yuzu exclaimed in alarm.

"Game," Balthazar began neutrally.

Said red car continued to roll until it hit a tall pole of one of the many streetlights dotting the lot.

"...Set," Anzu added, while she was downing a package of dried sweet potato.

After recovering from its earlier, abrupt, and harsh landing, the Jegan's feet took a few steps back, as if staggering, only for its right feet to stomp down on the principal's car, crushing and reducing the already totaled car into nothing but flattened scrap. Some of the male students cringed deeply at the sight, while the females, _especially_ the Ooarai Student Council board president, seemed to enjoy, and maybe, was even delighted the whole scene.

"...And match," Momo finished in a flat voice, Yuzu's eyebrows twitched several times after witnessing the destruction of the car by the Jegan.

The Jegan marched forward to the field, to stop once it's right before the eyes of the students. With a hiss, the cockpit's hatch slowly opened, and a pilot hopped out to stand on the edge of the hatch. What some of the students were not expecting was that the pilot, was actually a female. True to her well-endowed body, despite restrained by her normal suit, and her helmet-less head, which gave away her face. She looked Oriental, by her slender eyes, while having a strangely pale skin.

"Good morning!" Her voice shouted to the Ooarai-Federation War Games members down below her.

* * *

"...The sun just wants the whole galaxy to burn... doesn't it?"

"I've been deceived..."

Now adding more pressure to Miho's migraine, instead of one, there's now two individuals who were complaining about their current state. One was Innokenti, obviously still whining about the weather of the Colony, the other one was Saori, who looked downcast by the fact that the instructor was not the one she'd been hoping for. Said instructor was standing in front of the assembled Fire Teams, she'd already changed into the Federation's formal tan Dress Uniform from her normal suit.

"She looks very beautiful, though, doesn't she?" Hana mused with a smile.

"This is Ami Chouno, from the Earth Federation Space Force's Special Training and Observation Association," Momo formally introduced the woman they're facing.

Innokenti suddenly chortled quietly, which surprised his whole Fire Team.

"... _What kind of name is Chouno?_ " He muttered through a suppressed chuckle.

Kenji gave him a scolding look. " _M-Mononobe-senpai, she'll hear us! Please try to act accordingly!_ " He whispered with a look of resignation.

The woman stepped forward to meet the groups. "Hello, everyone! I have heard that many here have never handled an armored vehicle before, but let's all do our best!" After saying so, she scanned each members of the Fire Teams and stopped when her eyes fell on Miho. Blinking, as if showing her surprise, she then approached her. Kenji's body tensed up into attention, while Kenya just tilted his head. "Oh, aren't you Master Nishizumi's daughter?" The whole War Games members then turned to look at the girl. "She has been a big help with our duties, is your sister also well?"

Miho visibly stiffened at the bombardment of questions. "Ah... um... yes, she's well," She answered, strangely, with a sad voice.

"... _Master_?" Innokenti repeated her words with a weirded-out tone, still being too blunt for his own good.

" _Master_ Nishizumi?"  
"Who's she?"  
"Is she supposed to be famous?"

At the chatter that erupted from the students, the Federation personnel stepped back from Miho to face the entirety of the group. "Many know the Nishizumi School as the most famous school of all to conduct the War Games simulations."

"...Even more than the Main Branches back on Earth?" Innokenti, once again, with his never-ending wisdom, questioned without care. Beside him, Kenji Iyamamoto failed to contain his urge to move his palm to smack his own face.

The instructor's eyes trained over to the other War Games veteran, and a twinkle was visible for a splitsecond. "Ah, and you're the son of Colonel Mononobe, no?" She asked, not to receive any kind of response from the boy. "Well... to answer your question... yes, actually. More than some, at least," After giving him a slight smile of respect, the same kind of smile she'd given to Miho earlier, she placed on hand on her waist. "Say hi to your parents for me, will you?"

Kenya, even after feeling the eyes of the other members of the simulations, and hearing several more chatters about him, kept his usual dull, if not, tired face on. He nodded slowly to the instructor without saying anything.

"Instructor!" Yukari raised her hand excitedly to gain her attention, seemingly forgetting the fact that she was a Federation. "What are you going to teach us for today?!"

Ami Chouno of the E.F.S.F., hummed thoughtfully for a couple of seconds. "...I think we'll have ourselves a full-scale mock battle for today."

And mixed responses from heard from the group. With some instantly pumped while others disagreeing on the idea.

"Don't worry, it's all just practice!" The woman reassured with a light laugh, which did little to calm the distressed Ooarai students, particularly the still-inexperienced female part of the spectrum. "You just have to floor it, spurt forward, and pull the trigger!" She produced a map which showed several 'X's on it, it was the map of the Ooarai's War Games field. "Now, everyone you're free to enter your vehicles and Mobile Suits, and head to the appointed starting points!"

 _"Que quem quis sempre pode!"_  
 _"...Audeamus..."_  
 _"Sieg Zeon!"_

 _" **Whaaaaaa-?!** "_

The reactions were as expected.

* * *

"Alright, people!" Balthazar's voice spoke through the radio, to the each of the Vuelo Escuela's Mobile Suit teams. Just as he said that, a gray MS-07A Training Gouf with a 75mm Gatling Gun attached to its shield, stepped out of the hangar, the pilot was none other than the Brazillian himself. The Gouf was accompanied by an RGM-79FP GM Striker, piloted by the fellow Student Council member, Kevinson. "You know the drill, and I hope you've all explained the rules of the War Games to those who aren't familiar to it, yet!"

"...Oh yeah..." Innokenti mumbled, whilst booting up his own RGM-79[G]'s systems. "...The instructor didn't even bother to explain it to the girls back then..." The GM's head turned to look at the woman in question, who was directing and instructing the girls of Ooarai to their vehicles.

"We basically just have to protect our own flag-vehicles from enemy fire, right?" Genette's voice mused, and then, the sight of Kenya's former RGM-79 Thunderbolt GM, already equipping its twin shields and dual-wielding a pair of beam spray guns, marched forward, he assumed that he was the pilot. The GM was followed by another GM-type Mobile Suit, although this time a support type. A sniper unit, an RGM-79[G]SR, to be more precise. "As long as they're mobile, we surviving Mobile Suits can still retaliate. By the way, Bishop, what team are assigned to, again?"

There was a slight static on the frequency before a voice answered, "We're Fire Team D, right? So we're with the girls who got the _Andrea Doria._ "

As the chatter between the Mobile Suit teams went on, Kenji Iyamamoto carefully scanned each of the opposing teams' armaments. He could list several Mobile Suits from his own knowledge, like Fire Team C, had two MS-05B Zaku I units at their disposal, each armed with their Zaku Machine Guns, Fire Team B, got themselves the RGM-79C GM Type-C and the MS-09B Dom respectively carrying a Beam Spray Gun and a 360mm Giant Bazooka, and with the rest like Fire Team D with their Thunderbolt GM and the GM Sniper, and Fire Team E with the Gouf and the GM Striker, they would really need to tread lightly against them.

"Hey, Argus Team," The team leader of the Centaurus Team called out through the radio. "Might want to switch to the local radio channels. Since your loudspeakers are gonna be a dead giveaway. Remember, our long-range comms will be jammed by the Minovsky Particles jammed once the simulation starts."

Kenji blinked in surprise at the sudden tip given by the other team. "Ahh, err, yes! Thank you for your suggestion, Centaurus Actual!" He tuned his radio into a more desirable frequency, and finally moved his Zaku II forward by a few meters, following the other Mobile Suits' march to the outside. After a few steps, he looked back to his wingman, and his GM, who was still docked at the platform inside the hangar. "Umm, Mononobe-senpai, Argus Two, are you ready, yet?"

"...Yeah, I'll be there in a sec..." Innokenti muttered, surprisingly already switched onto the same inter-squad members channel he was using. "...Just doing one final sift-through the _Federation's War Gaming for Dummies_..."

The Japanese's head fell forward in exasperation. "Uh... yes, take your time, senpai."

"Alright, then, everyone! Panzer Vor!" Instructor Chouno's voice suddenly barked on all open frequency to the students.

And a disgruntled groan came from Kenya's RGM-79[G]. "Ugh... so much for taking my time..." He muttered in disdain, most likely directed to no one, though. His Ground-Type GM stepped down from the platform and picked up its 180mm Cannon. After leveling its barrel into a much more stable position, it followed Kenji's Zaku II to the outside of the hangars, where they would see several other Mobile Suits still waiting for their Flag Vehicles to come out from the hangars themselves.

"...Argus Two, I'm ready for orders, Argus Actual..." Innokenti reported in.

"Roger, Mononobe-senpai," It was then Kenji thought that he should probably contact the crew of the _Barsele_ to let them know that they're already ready.

He tuned his radio to match the frequency the Medium Tank was using, only to hear:

" ** _-IYAHOO!_** " Yukari's loud roar erupted from the other end of the channel, making the Japanese Cadet to jump on his seat with a squeak to boot as well. "This feels great! Even for a Federation tank!" The girl tutted once before continuing. "Tch, you Federation sure knows how to build a tank! Not bad, not bad at all!" She droned on about the tank, not realizing that her voice was picked up, not only inside the tank, but on Kenji's Mobile Suit radio as well.

A long silence followed.

"...It feels like she's just changed into a completely different person..." Saori mumbled, but loud enough for her voice to also be heard on the radio, dumbfounded.

"It seems that she's Panzer-High," Miho supplemented plainly, but her voice sounding the clearest compared to the two girls that spoke before her. The pilots deduced that she's the radio operator for the team's tank.

A loud, dramatic gasp escaped from Yukari's mouth, and she muttered a quiet apology to the group.

"Um... so, what now?" Hana's voice was also heard on the radio. And it was her voice that snapped Kenji from his disorientation from Yukari's earlier cry, and reminded him of his original objective, which was to contact the girls and inform them of their status.

Kenji keyed his mic and pulled it closer to his mouth. "Um, Argus Actual to _Barsele_ , I repeat, Argus Actual to _Barsele_ , do you copy?" He asked, but, without waiting for a response, he continued, "Umm, can you switch your frequency to match ours? Me and Mononobe-senpai are ready, and are currently standing by outside the hangar."

"Ah, err, yes! We read you, Kenji-san, please, wait for a moment," Miho's voice replied almost instantly, and the girl tuned their tank's radio into the desired frequency, before contacting him again. "It's done. Oh, and Hana-san, you just have to pull that level to your right backwards, and press your foot softly on the pedal. The Heads Up Display on the monitor in front of you... of, you haven't turned it on, yet. Please press that green button at the console directly to your left. Yes, that's the one. Okay, the Heads Ups Display should give you the live feed from the frontal camera, and it should help you with the sense of direction. Of course, you can also open the hatch over your head to get a better view of the outside."

Innokenti hummed a long tune. "...Just like a pro..."

"Ohh... I see, I understand," Hana answered with a firm, but yet, uneasy voice. Not long after, the sounds of the M61A3 Medium Tank's engines starting, were heard on the Fire Team's radio. Hearing the rumbles getting louder and faster, they assumed that the tank was advancing.

But suddenly, a yelp from Saori came to their ears. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait, wait! We're going backwards! Hey, watch the wall, watch the wall!" She yelled in both panic and alarm.

"The brakes, Hana-san! Step on the brakes!" Miho instructed hastily.

"A-ah, yes!" Hana found her voice through the panic she was also experiencing, and the rumbles of the _Barsele_ 's engines disappeared completely, leaving the two Mobile Suit pilots outside to wonder what happened to the tank's crews. Sighs of relieve replaced the tank's engine.

Miho, after finishing her sigh, spoke up, "Don't worry, we're doing just fine. Just take it easy," She reassured the driver of the tank.

Hana hummed positively. And the engines of the _Barsele_ restarted. The Cadets presumed that she was the one driving the M61A3. It was not long until the tank actually came out from the hangar to meet their accompanying Mobile Suit team. The _Barsele_ was among the last to exit the hangar, with the _Andrea Doria_ being the actual last armored vehicle to even actually start up their engines. After witnessing that the Medium Tank wasn't stopping to wait, the Mobile Suits of Argus Team marched after the vehicle to the starting point.

"My whole body is shaking..." Saori commented with a voice just as shaky.

"The sound it makes is amazing, though..." Hana chided in.

"...This feels, great!" Yukari repeated her last phrase.

Kenji tuned out from their chatter and looked at the still-waiting Medusa Team. "We'll, umm, see you on the field then."

"Yeah, sure thing. Good luck on your end, guys," Genette answered, waving one of the Thunderbolt GM's arm to the group as they marched pass them. The RGM-89[G]SR beside it gave the Fire Team a nod of acknowledgement to see them off.

"...Can I blow up the sun with my one-eighty mike-mike...?" Innokenti's voice suddenly butted into the open channel.

"NO!" The entirety of the War Games members yelled back.

* * *

 **Das War Games**

 **A Mobile Suit Gundam and Girls und Panzer Crossover Work of Fiction**

* * *

 **First Simulation**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

This took longer than I'd liked...

But you wouldn't believe how much crap I have to pull out from my arse to create the original tanks for the Fire Teams. Oh well, I should at least probably elaborate about the Fire Teams for you guys. Now, as you can see, a Fire Team consists of one Flag Vehicle and one Mobile Suit team (which compromises of two Mobile Suits, one leader, who usually handles a more versatile role of the team, and one support role, who specializes on one thing on the battlefield). The goal of the War Games is too protect the team's Flag Vehicle from enemy fire, whilst trying to disable the opposing team's vehicle. If their main vehicle is disabled, then the whole Fire Team is out for the rest of the simulations.

Here's the current roster of the Ooarai/Federation War Games Fire Teams, as of episode 2, 20th minute mark of the GuP anime.

* * *

 **Fire Team A / Argus Team**

Combat Units:  
\- 1x M61A3 _Barsele_ Medium Tank [Flag Vehicle] - Miho Nishizumi, Saori Takebe, Hana Isuzu, Yukari Akiyama  
\- 1x MS-06JC Zaku II J-Type [MS Team Leader] - Kenji Iyamamoto  
\- 1x RGM-79[G] GM Ground-Type [Support - Armor Hunter] - Innokenti Mononobe

* * *

 **Fire Team B / Centaurus Team**

Combat Units:  
\- 1x M61CT-2 _Littorio_ Cruiser Tank [Flag Vehicle] - Noriko Isobe, Taeko Kondou, Shinobu Kawanishi, Akebi Sasaki  
\- 1x RGM-79C GM Type-C [MS Team Leader] - Centaurus Actual _(Name not yet given)_  
\- 1x MS-09B Dom [Support - Sabotage and Demolition] - Centaurus Two _(Name not yet given)_

* * *

 **Fire Team C / Charon Team**

Combat Units:  
\- 1x HT-01D _Magella Assault_ Tank Destroyer [Flag Vehicle] - Erwin, Caesar, Saemonza, Oryou  
\- 2x MS-05B Zaku Is [Team Leader and Support - Anti-Mobile Suit] - Charon Actual and Charon Two _(Names not yet given)_

* * *

 **Fire Team D / Medusa Team**

Combat Units:  
\- 1x M61FSU-3 _Andrea Doria_ Medium Artillery Unit [Flag Vehicle] - Asuza Sawa, Ayumi Yamagou, Saki Maruyama, Karina Sakaguchi, Yuuki Itsugi, Aya Oono  
\- 1x RGM-79 GM (Thunderbolt Sector-use) [MS Team Leader] - Augustine Genette  
\- 1x RGM-79FP GM Striker [Support - Close-Range Combat/Recon] - Euan Bishop

* * *

 **Fire Team E / Orthus Team**

Combat Units:  
\- 1x M353A4-K _Bloodhound_ (Kai) Hover Truck [Flag Vehicle] - Anzu Kodatani, Momo Kawashima, Yuzu Koyama  
\- 1x MS-07A Gouf Test-Type [MS Team Leader] - Balthazar Silva  
\- 1x RGM-79[G]SR GM Sniper [Support - Long-Range Combat/Recon] - Fergus Kevinson

* * *

As you can see, there are still a lot of names not given for the pilots outside of Orthus, Medusa, and Argus Teams. Determining which Mobile Suit each team should pilot and creating the original tanks, which are, literally all of them, are already time consuming enough. None of the armored vehicles are canon, by the way. The closest thing to the actual vehicle of the Gundam franchise is the Bloodhound, and that thing is already jerry rigged for the War Games simulations. So, about the characters, if you're interested, you can submit an OC or two, I guess. Just PM me and I'll try my best to make your characters a reality. In the meantime, I'll just be using their callsigns.

I've also expanded on the tanks from the Gundam universe, seeing how in the U.C. there are only literally three tanks: The Type 61, the Magella Attack, and the Magella Einz. That's why I've made the tank family larger in this story, adding classifications, designations, and even names to these new vehicles. I'm gonna try to make these tanks as close to the Gundam franchise's lore as possible, but for now, let's just get you updated on the tanks' expanded family, as of now.

* * *

 **M61 Series** : I've added numerical designations to each of the tanks, so the number after the 'M61A' determines the class of each tank types  
\- _Type 61_ \- The original M61 used in the original 1979 MGS franchise, old Main Battle Tank (Canon)  
\- (M61) ** _A2_** : _Ansaldo_ \- Light Tank  
\- (M61) ** _A3_** : _Barsele_ \- Medium Tank  
\- (M61) ** _A4_** : _Effetto Pronto_ \- Heavy Tank  
\- (M61) ** _A5_** : _Semovente_ \- Current-Generation Main Battle Tank, used in the more recent series, like the MS IGLOO OVA, named after the unit. (Canon tank, although, the naming, is not. Many have considered the the Type 61 and the M61A5 is the same tank, but for the sake of this story, which in desperate need of fresh, new vehicles, I've decided to separate the two. That's also considering that the Type 61 looks more like a prototype compared to the M61A5, which is already outfitted with external machine guns and some TUSK equipment)

 **Additions to the M61 Series** : like the main family, the numbers designate the class of each tank  
\- CT: Cruiser Tank [Just as the name implies. A Cruiser Tank]  
\- FSU: Fire Support Unit [Mobile Artillery Platform]

 **Magella Series** : no changes, as of yet.

 **Additions to the Magella Series** : Seeing how the HT-01 is the only tank ever widely used by the Zeon, I'm having a hard time adding expansions to this family of tanks  
\- T: Tank Destroyer

* * *

Funny how I half-ass this story, but have done extensive research on the tanks of the U.C. timeline. Either way, all of you have probably realized that Yukari is acting slightly like an ass. Well, while I was creating this story, the idea of making her to act like an actual asshole never really comes to mind. I just want to expand her love for armor and history from the official series with a love for Zeon, and that's actually for the lols, seriously. I have never intended to make her to act like an ass, I guess, I'm seeing this more on the humor-side of things. Because of course, with every Zeon-love, comes the natural Federation-hate.

If you want to know the fact, it's because I'm basing most of their characters on the Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! manga, not the anime.

Huh... kill me now, pls.

I'm tired. This is really draining. Sorry for the crappy story quality.


	4. Chapter 4

**Federation's War Gaming for Dummies (13th Edition)**

War Games Simulations, a sport that is either a hit or miss for schools all across the Solar System. Mostly a miss, due to the cost and the dangers of the simulations itself. The activity was first founded at U.C. 0089, on the Federation's Piloting School, North American Branch, California. First, only as a mere activity to pass the time for students that have finished their activities for the day. Due to the large quantities of old Mobile Suits and war gears from the One Year War still stored at the base not far from the school itself, the base agreed to donate some of its suits along with some blank ammunition to the school.

The sport quickly gained popularity, even spreading to private schools all across the globe, and even to the outer space Colonies. The simulations then became a mandatory activity for all Second and Third Year students of the Main Branches of the Piloting Schools on Earth. After a series of agreements, and seeing how the popularity of the sport itself has skyrocketed, the Earth Federation finally gave clearance for schools who have both the necessary funds and facilities to support War Gaming Simulations on U.C. 0097.

As of this issue, there are over fifty schools spread across the Solar System that have made the War Games a part of their curriculum, and it was only three years after the decree on U.C. 0097 to make the simulations public, that the first War Games tournament would finally take place on the Eastern European Branch of the Earth Federation's Piloting School. The competition is annual, and every school is welcome to enter such event. Although, every year, some parts of the Solar System would also commence their own annual War Games championships. Like the recently-founded Side 8 Colonies. These are, of course, sponsored by the Federation.

However, due to the extensively large cost to even support such a sport, on U.C. 101, Anaheim Electronics, after given permissions from the Federation, started to build recreated Mobile Suits and War Vehicles from the One Year War, including the Gundam-types, using recycled metal, alloy, and Mobile Suit frames, exclusively for the use of War Games Simulations along with a much safer and cheaper ammo-type called the ' _simunitions_ '. As such, it greatly reduced the total funds needed to start the sport, and invited more schools to open up the simulations as their activity.

In War Games, members are to take part in a series of battles to destroy key objectives of the opposing team while defending their own key objectives. The most common target on the Ground War Games is usually a Flag-Vehicle, which is an armored fighting vehicle acting as the ' _king_ ' of each team. A Flag-Vehicle is accompanied by a Mobile Suit team, which in turn, compromises of two Mobile Suits each team. This formation of three is called a single ' _Fire Team_ '. If the Flag-Vehicle is taken out during the match, then the whole Fire Team is out for the rest of the game, whether the Mobile Suits are still in working condition or not.

A single Mobile Suit team also-

* * *

"Mononobe-senpai... I mean, err... Argus Two, do you copy?" Kenji Iyamamoto queried to the other pilot of the Argus Team. Innokenti Mononobe within his RGM-79[G] has been eerily silent for the past few minutes. While he was still following the Japanese's Zaku II J-Type from the back, the more senior member of the War Games seemed to be absent somewhat. As if he was not paying attention to his surroundings. Sure, the simulation hasn't started yet, due to the fact that they're still making their way to the starting point, and would still have to wait for the others to reach their own appointed area as well, but his silence was just off.

The sounds of a book, closing its pages and the snap of its cover, accompanied by a groan through the local squad radio gave Kenji the answer he needed. "...What's up, Argus Actual...?" The tired, but not irritated voice, despite after being interrupted by him, of the GM's pilot replied, his Mobile Suit's head visibly rising from the ground, or the 180mm Cannon it's currently holding on its large, metal hands and to face his flight lead, who was looking over his Zaku's shoulder to the GM.

"Oh, no, no... um, I was just... checking if you're still there," The Japanese answered with a tone, could be perceived as being awkward.

A small round of silence ensued between the two pilots, before the other Cadet answered, "...I was just reading the..." He paused himself abruptly, and then a sigh could be heard from his suit. "...Never mind... I'm ready for your orders, Argus Actual... don't worry."

Feeling slightly guilty that he may have offended his wingman, even after disturbing him in the middle of something, Kenji swallowed a large lump on his throat and tapped his mic once, a non-verbal ' _yes_ ' to answer his senior. The GM, after hearing his response, was just to stare back dully at the ground. The Japanese himself sighed warily to himself, and decided to break the stare from the other Mobile Suit to look at their Flag-Vehicle, the M61A3 _Barsele_ Medium Tank down below. The tank's main hatch was open, and Saori Takebe's head could be seen peeking out from it.

The girls were doing surprisingly well, for a group who have never handled a normal vehicle before, let alone, an actual tank. Although slowly, they were advancing steadily to the appointed marker that's blinking on their Heads Up Display. Kenji assumed that it's mostly thanks to Miho, who was carefully directing the crews of said vehicle with great patience and precision, despite the actual Commander being Saori. Hana, while still having difficulties on controlling the _Barsele_ , was actually holding on pretty good as well. All was proceeding according to plan for Fire Team A.

Until,

"Wh-whoa, hey, we're gonna collide!" Saori yelled frantically, catching the Mobile Suit pilots' attention to her. The girl was pointing at a tree at their front. "Left! Go left! Left!" The Barsele barely missed the tree, and so was Saori with the branch. If she didn't duck, her head would've smacked onto a handful of leaves. "Hey, I did tell you to ' _go left_ ', earlier, right?!" She protested to the rest of the crew, particularly to the one who's handling the M61A3, which was Hana.

"S-sorry, I didn't hear you!" The driver apologized quickly, sounding preoccupied with the tank alone.

"The Commander signals the Driver with their feet on where to go," Miho, with a calm and even voice, explained to the still-irritated Saori, who sounded off a confused hum from her mouth. "You're supposed to kick the shoulder of the Driver."

This earned her a surprised gasp from the Commander of the tank. "Wh-wha?! I can't do that to a friend!"

"Don't worry, kick me if you must," Hana told her with a firm tone, physically readying herself for any incoming pain to her body.

"Ehhh...?" Saori produced an elongated tone of surprise and confusion. "A-alright, then! Go..." Her voice hardened, as if preparing for a hard strike, and then a large noise of a foot hitting someone's torso was heard from the Barsele's radio. " _Left!_ " Kenji and Innokenti flinched inside their own cockpit at the noise.

Hana was silent for couple of seconds, before her voice was picked up by the radio again. "Umm... could you please be more gentle next time?" She requested, with a voice clearly like she was disoriented by the pain from the earlier kick. The tank did finally comply to the Commander's request and it started to rectify its course by veering over to its left, this prompted the two Mobile Suits behind it to follow the _Barsele_ to their appointed starting point without question.

After reaching the starting area, the medium tank stopped its advance as well as its engines, and so did the Zaku and the GM escorts. Miho opened the side hatch of the armored vehicle and sent a nod over to the Argus Team's direction. The two pilots understood her signal, and began to hunker down at their location. Kenji's MS-06JC and Innokenti's RGM-79[G] crouched behind the treeline, hiding themselves from plain sight, whilst seeking cover from any future enemy fire beneath the shady cover of the tall trees.

"Attention, all Fire Teams," Instructor Chouno's voice buzzed on their radio, she was broadcasting on all channels. "I believe that all of you have reached the starting point of the match. Remember, there is only one rule, immobilize all other Flag-Vehicles. Go for it and run them down. Just blow everything up, you got that?"

"...She's an unsubtle one, isn't she...?" Kenya muttered on his team's frequency.

Kenji could feel his lips and eyebrows twitching lightly at his wingman's jab to the Federation personnel. His senior himself was also well-known for **_NOT_ ** being subtle, so, the irony was certainly palpable.

"Now, before every simulation, the War Games always begins with a formal bow, and ends with a bow," The instructor cleared her throat and a more powerful, commanding voice came out afterwards. "Everyone, you may bow."

 _"Let us have a fair match!"_  
 _"Quem se atvere!"_  
 _"...Audeamus..."_  
 _"Sieg Zeon!"_

After everyone resounded their cries, the instructor continued, "Good luck, everyone! And be careful now, we will be spreading Minovsky Particles at combat density, be sure to be in range of your local communications!" Chouno informed the Fire Teams one last time, before she sounded an alarm, signalling the beginning of the simulations. "You may begin!" She cut herself off from the team's radio, and not long after, Fire Team A could already feel the jamming effect of the Minovsky Particles spread at the field of the match, true to the light stuttering on the radios.

"Ahh, it's finally starting!" Yukari piped up, excited. "Hey, wanna test the main guns right now?"

"Um... I think we shouldn't open fire at the trees just yet..." Miho voiced her opinion nervously to the crew.

A humming Saori finally clicked her fingers together. "Hey, why don't we start by blowing up the Student Council first? The instructor... is a woman..."

"...You're seriously still pissed about that...?" Innokenti's deadpan response came through the radio.

"Says the guy who's always pissed at the weather..." Saori bit back sarcastically. "Either way, I say we do it! I'm the Commander here!"

The Fire Team mumbled some hesitant ' _okay'_ s from their mouths, while Kenya didn't reply.

"Excellent!" The Commander of the _Barsele_ spoke with a satisfied voice. "Alright now, full speed ahead to the Student Council's Fire Team!" A moment of silence followed when no one really reacted to her commands. "...So... where are they?" Her question didn't have to linger long.

For a single round impacted right beside their tank, the highly-explosive simunition round sent several rock matters flying to the Barsele's hull, and alerting everyone, including the Mobile Suits of the enemy's location. Now alarmed, the girls were thrown into a state of panic, while the Mobile Suit teams jumped out from their covers to protect their Flag-Vehicle. The moment their units came out from the treeline, they immediately went for their tank's flanks and crouched into a more protective posture.

Only to be catching some more pester from a beam fire. The heated round landed on the ground between the M61A3 and the two hunkered Mobile Suits, sending a small Electromagnetic-Pulse in a small radius, promptly disabling the Mobile Suit's sensors for a few seconds. Once their Main Camera's vision returned to their cockpit, their eyes were met with an RGM-79C GM Type-C from the Centaurus Team, taking aim at them, particularly at their Flag-Vehicle.

"What?! What happened?!" Saori yelped.

Miho quickly opened the hatch, ignoring the panicked state of the tank's crews to take a look at their surroundings. She instantly saw the M61CT-2 _Littorio_ , the Cruiser Tank of Fire Team B, alongside a GM Type-C, through the towering figures of their own Mobile Suit team, with their bore and barrel smoking hot after their earlier shot. Innokenti's GM Ground-Type was seen leveling the barrel of its 180mm Cannon for a retaliation shot to the enemy team, but he didn't fire.

"...Argus Actual, requesting permission to engage..." The boy spoke plainly, sounding not distressed at all, but, he did sound a bit more wary of their situation.

Kenji's Zaku II also turned to face the enemy team, aiming his own 90mm Zaku Machine Gun's barrel at the GM Type-C, ready to fire. "What should we do now, _Barsele_?! A-are we clear to fire?!" He asked the tank, for they were the Flag-Vehicle, and so, practically holding the command of the entire Fire Team.

"L-let's just get outta here!" Saori, in pure, and utter panic commanded instantly. "All of this is too much! Just run for now!"

Promptly, the M61A3's engines restarted with a loud roar, and the medium tank immediately rolled away from the zone.

The pilot of the Zaku blinked at her command, but considering that she was the Commander of the tank, and figuratively speaking, the whole Fire Team, he couldn't protest. His sights went back to the GM Ground-Type, who was still waiting for his command. "Um, Argus Two, focus on creating a path of escape for the Barsele for now!" He barked into the mic, lowering his own machine gun to quickly follow the retreating Flag-Vehicle of his team. "We're regrouping, Mononobe-senpai!"

"...Roger..." The GM stood back up from its crouched position, also lowering the barrel of its cannon, despite having a clear shot at the enemy team back then. The eighteen meter-tall Mobile Suit turned its head over his shoulder whilst advancing backwards with its body still facing the front, taking the brunt of the assault from the other enemy Fire Team. It was then his sensors picked up a new hostile ping from their other flank. "...Guys, I think you should watch out for that Dom..."

Without warning, an MS-09B jumped out from the nearby formation of trees, to launch a single rocket, right at the M61A3.

"Too late for the warning, Argus Two!" Kenji sounded back, his instincts kicking in to go between the projectile and the tank. " _Barsele_ , we have a rocket incoming, brace for impact, I repeat, brace for-" His warning was cut short when the projectile exploded when it hit his Zaku's shoulder-shield, sending the Mobile Suit staggering backwards from the sheer kinetic force it'd received from the impact and its feet uncontrollably stepping on the ground, one of which, nearly hitting and flattening their own Flag-Vehicle.

Innokenti grumbled about something beneath his breath and moved in to cover his damaged Team Leader's Mobile Suit. His GM broke contact with the Type-C and the Littorio and ran towards Kenji's direction with a rather slow speed, due to the weight of the 180mm Cannon and the field ordnance weapon pack hoisted on its backpack. He arrived just in time before the Dom managed to pull out its heat saber. The veteran swooped his massive cannon, using its long barrel to knock the MS-09B back to smack the trees behind it.

"...Argus Actual... you still there...?" Kenya aimed his cannon towards where the Dom was downed, but he still didn't fire.

A groan was elicited from Kenji's mouth, and his Zaku took a few balancing steps to let its AMBAC system do its work. "I'm... I'm good, Mononobe-senpai! I've lost my shields, but I can still do it!"

The Zaku, after regaining its balance, proceeded to once again follow the retreating form of their Flag-Vehicle in the distance, along with the GM, who was still aiming towards their back for any pursuers. Naturally, the Mobile Suit's feet were faster, so they caught up in only a few seconds. The Fire Team arrived at a fork on the road, and was just about to ask to each other, which was the better way to go, but over the cliff to the left, a single _Magella Assault_ suddenly came to view along with two other Zaku Is of the Charon Team.

Kenji's Zaku II stepped to the front, while Innokenti's GM Ground-Type stayed at the back.

"...Out of the frying pan..." The platinum-haired cadet mumbled irritably, turning on his zoom optics to locate any pursuing combat units from the enemy team.

"Wh-what should we do now?" Hana asked, the usually composed girl finally feeling the panic getting the better of her.

"We're surrounded!" Saori pointed out the obvious. "That way! Go that way!" He pointed to the right section of the fork.

But Hana unfortunately couldn't see where she was pointing at. "Where?!" She queried for clarification.

" ** _TO THE R_ _IGHT!_** " Another hard kick to the shoulder happened, and the _Barsele_ was once again mobile, now at full speed.

After seeing their Flag-Vehicle marching rapidly to the right, the Mobile Suits once again broke engagement and started to follow the M61A3 from the back, whilst scanning its flanks for more enemies. The Zakus of the Charon Team were doing a good job at suppressing the Argus Team's Mobile Suits with their 90mm and 120mm Machine Guns, preventing them from even lowering their shields and firing back. Innokenti had no choice but to also cover for his Team Leader, for he was now the only member of his team who had an actual physical shield.

The _Magella Assault_ has also started to give chase to the group, its mighty, long 175mm cannon opening fire, and barely missing the retreating Federation Medium Tank by a few inches to its left. The _Barsele_ shrugged off the shockwave the simunition produced and kept advancing to an open field. To which, the Mobile Suit pilots could finally relax a bit. They were in the open, sure, but so would the enemy. At an open area like that, one couldn't possibly flank their position without giving away theirs.

Miho, who was still observing the area, with her head out from the hatch, spotted a figure, lying down on the field. Strange, but it was no time to think about such matter.

"Watch out!" She warned the Driver, and the rest of the Fire Team about the person on the ground.

But unfortunately, the Driver couldn't hear her clearly, and the M61A3 kept rolling towards the downed figure. Surprisingly, and amazingly, the person seemed to realize the incoming threat, and stood back up, despite in a rather slow motion. Even more amazing for the Fire Team, was that she somehow, and actually managed to jump off from the ground, and landed on the Barsele's frontal armor at just the right time, avoiding a messy, and bloody way to go, courtesy of the medium tank's tracks.

The most surprising thing for Miho, and quite possibly Innokenti, who was also observing the girl from his Mobile Suit's Heads Up Display, was that the girl was none other than the one they'd encountered yesterday, the one with the white hairband, and the sleepy face and all. Miho gasped lightly when she recognized the face, while Kenya just raised his eyebrows without saying anything to the radio. He just kept his GM's Main Camera trained at the girl, who was already standing up, on the top of a speeding tank.

"We met yesterday!" Miho exclaimed in surprise, after finding her voice through the shock and amazement at the girl.

Saori also opened the main hatch to have a look at the intruder. "Oh, hey, Mako-chan."

The one, called Mako by the tank's Commander, stared at her for a few seconds before responding with a dull, "...Oh, it's Saori..."

Miho looked back and forth between the two girls. "Um... you two know each other?"

Saori nodded. "Yeah, we're childhood friends," She answered swiftly, before turning to the new passenger of their tank. "By the way, what are you doing out here? You've got classes, you know!"

"...I know that..." Mako answered with a voice similar to Innokenti, lacking of any emotion or enthusiasm.

Their conversation was cut short when another round slammed the ground behind them, forcing Saori to cover her ears at the close call to deafness and then letting herself back to the interior of the _Barsele_ , Miho to slightly retreat her figure into the tank, and Mako, to stagger on the tank's hull. The Mobile Suit team, once again, turn to their back to face the pursuing hostiles, to see the forming figures of the Zaku Is and the much farther Dom and GM Type-C, with their Flag-Vehicles opening fire on them.

"It's dangerous out here, please get yourself inside!" Miho directed the dull girl, before she herself secured herself back to the M61A3's interior.

Mako complied and leisurely opened one of the hatches and plopped herself into the medium tank, fitting herself into the cramped spaces of the tank. She seated herself on the floor beneath Yukari's post, and it was not long before her head swayed left and right and it limply crashed onto Yukari's stomach, which earned her a panicked look from the girl on the station, and followed by a look of surprise from Miho, and an understanding smile from Saori.

"I... need... more oxygen..." Mako pleaded to no one, her voice also picked up by the radio of the tank.

"A-are you okay?" Yukari questioned, now sounding concerned for the girl's well being.

"Mako has low blood pressure, you see..." Saori explained in Mako's stead.

Miho and Innokenti hummed at the same time.

"So that's why she was having a hard time yesterday," She mumbled aloud.

"You ran into her?" Kenji questioned, now peering his Zaku's head slightly to look at the tank.

"... _We_ , ran into her..." Kenya corrected drowsily from his Mobile Suit's cockpit, without looking back to the tank, for he was still preoccupied with the approaching threats behind them.

Saori let out a tune of knowing at his jab. "Ooohh... that explains why you two were kinda late back then," Their conversation were once again, cut short, and they were snapped back into reality when another near miss landed near their location, this time, it was from the Centaurus Team's Dom, who'd just launched another rocket from its 360mm Bazooka from long range. "Gah, I've had it! What are we supposed to do?!" With her voice growing increasingly shaky and wavering, she yelled to the radio.

Miho looked at their Commander, and moved over to the hatch beside her. She hesitantly reached out to the handle to open it, but finally braved herself to once again peek her head out to check on their location. The moment she looked to their front, she could see a rather large, but old bridge, over a wide, and deep ravine, big enough to fit the whole Fire Team, but the condition of said bridge itself was questionable, with rusts covering the surface of the metal platforms and the concretes _actually_ swaying from the wind.

"Please stop the tank!" The Nishizumi plopped back into the tank and requested such to the Driver, to which, Hana complied upon seeing the bridge in question on the _Barsele_ 's Heads Up Display.

After skidding to a halt, Miho promptly jumped out from the M61A3 and walked over to the old bridge, the rest of the Barsele's crews opened their hatches in order to stop the girl from doing what she had on her mind.

" _Miho-san, it's dangerous to leave the Barsele!_ " Kenji called out from his Zaku's loudspeaker, not bothering to use the radios anymore, since their position was already practically blown.

"I'm sure there'll be some time before the other Fire Teams catch up to us!" She yelled back to the Zaku II, whilst jogging on the surface of the bridge. "I'll be fine! I'll just be checking if the bridge can support our whole weight!" After reaching the center, she hopped on the platform several times, only to stagger back and forth at the swaying bridge. After much contemplation, she figured that it would hold. It would _HAVE_ to hold, for their sake. "Alright... forward, slow!"

Hana nodded and went back to the tank to roll the M61A3 along the road and onto the bridge. The Mobile Suits simply watched their backs with their weapons aimed at the tanks' flanks. The moment the _Barsele_ 's caterpillar tracks made contact with the road's platform, the whole bridge shook and swayed at the added weight of the tank, much to the worry of the whole Fire Team members. Miho was still on the ground, visually directing the tank to the front.

Only that she didn't realize that the medium tank was constantly advancing to the left portion of the bridge. After hitting the concrete rails, the already old stones gave away, and the tank's left frontal tracks marched over the edge of the bridge. Now going even more unstable, the girls were once again thrown into panic, while Miho fell to one knee after the sudden tremors. Kenji almost moved over to see if he could help the tank, but after seeing that the bridge wouldn't hold their combined weight, he cursed to himself and watched on in worry.

Innokenti stayed in silence. Kenji couldn't place if he was also hoping, or was also forced to do nothing but to observe the situation.

"W-We're falling!" Hana's voice was full of dread and resignation.

"N-no way!" Saori yelled, but she couldn't brave herself to look at the ravine down below them.

Suddenly, a single 175mm round wheezed past the two Mobile Suits, and landed behind the _Barsele_ , courtesy of Fire Team C's _Magella Assault_. Miraculously, the round actually provided enough force to slightly push the tank to the right. It was nowhere out of the danger, but at least it was not falling anymore. Now alerted, the Mobile Suits of Argus Team looked over to their back, to see that their pursuers have finally caught up to their position. Kenji and Innokenti promptly readied their weapons, and hopefully waited for a command from the M61A3's Commander to return fire.

" _Are you all okay?!_ " Still overcame by his concern, he asked over to the _Barsele_ at the bridge via the loudspeaker of his MS-06JC.

Saori and Yukari looked over their hatch, only to be shocked that Hana was sitting still on her seat, unconscious.

"Isuzu-dono!" Yukari yelled, alarmed.

"Hana, are you okay?!" Saori was quick to call out to the knocked-out Driver of the team.

" _...What's going on down there...?_ " Innokenti finally asked after his long period of silence, still sounding composed, if not, tired, also with his GM's loudspeaker.

"We've lost the Driver!" Yukari reported back, to both the Mobile Suit team, and Miho, who'd recovered from the earlier blast, and was running over to the tank. "I repeat, we're immobilized!"

After her report, Miho quickly climbed over to the hull of the Federation's Medium Tank, and closed the hatch on top of Hana's head, but not before securing her from the driver's seat of the tank. She hopped onto her own hatch, and the rest of the girls closed their respective hatches to seek refuge inside the armor. Innokenti and Kenji, after confirming the status of their Flag-Vehicle, looked back to their enemies, only to see that Fire Team C's _Magella Assault_ was standing by beside Fire Team C's recently-arrived _Littorio_ , neither of them, and their Mobile Suit teams opening fire on each other. In fact, the teams were aiming their weapons directly at their own team.

Kenji's teeth ground beneath his mouth, it was a chance agreement. They were working together on purpose, but considering their situation now, it would be wise that the Barsele was to move immediately from its location. He quickly tapped his mic to contact the immobile tank, after turning off his Zaku's loudspeaker, realizing that what he might say afterwards could be taken as a crucial piece of information to the other Fire Teams. He tuned his frequency to the local comms and started speaking.

"Argus Actual to _Barsele_ , um, I think you should get yourselves mobile, now!" His volume was a bit too loud that he'd might liked, but the adrenaline combined with the sense of urgency and panic he was feeling forced his throat to produce such noise.

Miho sighed, after tuning the radio of the M61A3. "...I'm not really good at driving, but I guess we don't have a choice-" Her words were stopped short, when the Barsele's engines restarted, and the tank suddenly shook, before it moved backwards a couple of feet from the edge of the bridge. After making that the armored vehicle was out of danger, the tank stopped again, but its engines were still primed and ready. Surprised, the whole crew looked over to the driver's seat.

And they saw the stowaway, Mako Reizei, already making herself comfortable with the tank's controls, she even had a manual open next to the console.

"Wh-whoa, Mako!" Saori's voice nearly choked at amazement. "You can actually drive this thing?!"

"...Just learned how to do it..." The new Driver of the Barsele shifted to a new page of the tank's manual.

" ** _Just now?!_** " Kenji and Yukari both yelled in disbelief, and at the same time as well.

Saori managed to contain her surprise, and gave a smirk to the girl. "No wonder you're the top student!"

It was then, the crew of the medium tank felt several bullets hitting their back armor. Fire Team B's Littorio was firing their coaxial machine gun directly at their Flag-Vehicle, while Fire Team C's Magella Assault moved to a flanking position. This forced the Mobile Suits to split their attention to either teams. Innokenti had his sights trained on the Dom and the GM Type-C who were still, yet to fire, probably waiting until they reached a better flanking position. The Zaku Is of Fire Team B were once again spraying the area with machine gun fire, while highly inaccurate especially on full-auto, they still managed to pin Kenji's Zaku II down on its place.

"H-hey, Mako, you're going backwards!" Saori pointed out.

"...I know that..." Mako answered instantly, voice composed.

The Barsele suddenly jolted when it stopped, and it waited for a couple of seconds before advancing forward yet again, barely missing a 135mm AP shell from the Littorio's main cannon, and another 175mm round from the Magella Assault. Innokenti's GM could be seen activating its feet thrusters to quickly pivot to his left, just _this_ close, missing a pink beam, discharged by Centaurus Actual's GM Type-C's Beam Spray Gun, and another 360mm rocket from the MS-09B. Kenji tried to keep his hand steady and feet not shaking, and the boy slowly made his way to a cliff facing the Charon Team's location to seek refuge from their fire. Despite receiving some hits, it was not enough to disable his Zaku II Type-C.

The rocket from the Dom's Giant Bazooka, however, slammed near the Barsele, but thankfully, due to Mako's skills, the tank was only affected by the shockwave from the blast, and didn't suffer a direct hit. This woke up the unconscious Hana inside, and the girl frantically yelped in surprise at the sudden awakening, and looked around, before realizing that she was no longer on her original post, but instead, placed on the seat beside the Driver's seat.

"Are you okay?" Miho queried to the girl.

Hana, after registering the voice, looked to her back. "A-ah, yes, I'm fine. I... uh, apologize."

The Nishizumi shook her head several times. "No, no, it's fine. Just rest for now."

Hana gave her a look, and turned back to work on her post. "No, please, I'm fine."

Miho could feel herself smiling at her, before she looked over to Yukari. "Akiyama-san, please turn the turret!"

"Roger!" Yukari beamed in excitement as she did what she's told.

"...Does this mean, we can finally open fire at these guys...?" Innokenti's voice piped up on Miho's earpiece.

"Yes, yes you can, Argus Team!" Miho instantly answered without thinking. "I was wondering why you two didn't retaliate to the enemies back then!"

"We were waiting for our Fire Team Commander's orders... she told us to run..." Kenji suplemented, and Saori shrunk on her seat in embarrassment.

Innokenti tuned out the conversation, and stabilized his own GM on its landing after activating its feet thrusters earlier. Straightening the Mobile Suit with the help of the AMBAC system, the veteran pilot switched to the GM's targeting modules, bringing up the zoom scopes from the contraption beside his seat. After leveling and bringing up the barrel of his 180mm Cannon up to the enemies, his crosshairs fell upon the MS-09B Dom, which possessed the most threat to his team's Flag-Vehicle. In which, said Mobile Suit was also in the middle of activating its own thrusters to hop over his own unit to get a better lock on the Barsele.

Without hesitation, the pilot pressed the trigger on his flight stick, and his RGM-79[G] responded by catapulting a solid, highly-explosive 180x800 millimeter round towards the Zeon Mobile Suit. Seeing the oncoming round, despite already being in mid-flight, the Dom hastily deactivated its thrusters, forcing the suit to crash onto the ground, and throwing it out of balance from the earlier flight. Despite missing, Kenya wasted to time to re-triangulate his aim at the downed Mobile Suit. After recovering, the Dom immediately aimed its Bazooka at the Ground-Type GM, but it was too late, for the GM fired first.

The cannon round that was discharged from Innokenti's GM slammed hard onto the chest of the Dom, sending the Mobile Suit flying back from the massive force that hit it from close-range. After crashing back down to the ground, the MS-09B laid there, still, and unmoving. A white flag popped up on Innokenti's Heads Up Display, signalling that he's disabled the enemy Mobile Suit, the sound of his cockpit's alarm blaring snapped him back to reality, and to see that the GM Type-C of the Centaurus Team was already aiming at him. From that range, it was impossible to evade, so the Cadet just gripped hard on his flight sticks to brace for the impact.

" ** _FIRE!_** " Miho's voice barked on the radio, and before he knew it, the thundering sounds of the _Barsele_ 's twin 120mm main cannons, firing shells directly at Fire Team B's _Littorio_ , were heard. The rounds traveled through the sky at high speed, before landing perfectly at the frontal hull of the opposing team's M61CT-2. One round severely damaged the tank's hull, and the other one finished the job, by completely disabling the Cruiser Tank as a whole. A white flag popped out from the tank's hatch.

Innokenti blinked, then he turned to the RGM-79C in front of him, who's also surrendering its weapons by throwing it on the ground, and then raising its hand into the air. Fire Team B was defeated.

"...Whoa..." He muttered, sounding amazed, at least, for once.

Meanwhile, at Kenji's location, the boy was still occasionally peeking out his Zaku's head from the cliff face, only to be met with another endless torrent of bullets. The leader of the Argus Team formulated a plan inside his head, and after a few seconds of thinking, he blinked in realization that Fire Team B was out from the game. He sighed, that was one less threat to them, but the Magella Assault and the Zaku Is were still giving them a hard time.

He suddenly remembered something. He shifted through the weaponry list of his Zaku and confirmed the choice presented on the touchscreen console. He also keyed his radio to contact his team.

"Argus Two, Mononobe-senpai, are you alright?!" The junior just needed confirm the other pilot's condition.

Not a second later, the radio buzzed. "...Yeah, more or less... what's up...?"

"On my mark, can you shoot Charon Actual's Zaku I? I will be throwing a cracker grenade to try and disorient them, then it's up yours! I will also be coming out of cover!" Kenji's Zaku reached for its waist to pull out a single piece of rounded object resembling an explosive.

"...Roger, Argus Two, I have you covered..." Innokenti moved his GM and his 180mm canon from his side, a perfect flanking position without the other team realizing it. His crosshair slowly landing upon the leading Zaku I of the Charon Team. "...Gun, ready..."

"This is the _Barsele_ , we'll be opening fire at the _Magella Assault_ as well, soon enough!" Miho reported in to the Mobile Suit pilot. "We're ready, just give the mark!"

Kenji took one, deep breath to calm himself down. And then moved his Zaku's hand over the edge to toss the Cracker Grenade over to Fire Team C's area. Surprised at the sudden projectile thrown at them, the Zaku Is stopped firing at the cliff, to retreat to a safer distance. However, the grenade detonated early, sending shrapnel and more highly-explosive, tinier grenades to rain upon them. Despite not damaging the Zakus, the entire Fire Team was thrown into a state of disarray.

"Now, open fire!" Kenji peered out of cover, and instantly switched to his Zaku Machine Gun, and setting it to the single-shot mode. After his aim was placed upon the Support Unit of the Charon Team, he fired a single 90mm round to the Zaku I. The bullet found its target, and the MS-05B staggered back from the shot. It was damaged, but it was still standing. Kenji gritted his teeth, letting the recoil of the earlier fire to sink in first before pulling the trigger yet again. Letting another bullet go, this one also sent the Zaku I a few more steps backwards. Unrelenting, the Japanese pilot fired two more shots towards the enemy Zaku. Two bullets struck onto the armor of the hostile unit, and its staggering posture was on its last legs.

And Kenji didn't hesitate to finish it off, by firing one last shot from his Zaku Machine Gun to the Charon Mobile Suit. The 90mm round that hit the chest of the Zaku I made the unit to topple down and fell backwards on its back. After smacking the ground, and becoming completely still, the junior's Heads Up Display lit up, showing that the Zaku I he'd been firing at was now disabled and has popped a white flag for everyone to see. He then looked over to the now-alarmed, other Zaku I of the Charon Team, and prepared to fire on that unit as well.

Until a lone 180mm round impacted against the chest of said unit. And like the Dom, the Zaku I was thrown a few meters into the air, before landing unceremoniously on the ground, to pop up a white flag. A surprised, adrenaline-rushed Kenji blinked twice, and then he turned his Zaku's Main Camera to look over to the RGM-79[G] in the distance, with its 180mm Anti-Armor Cannon's barrel still smoking hot from his earlier shot. The GM stood back up to its feet and gave a shrug to the Zaku II J-Type.

The force of the Zaku I's fall disrupted the _Magella Assault_ 's aim, and they fired anyway. The round missed by a long shot from the M61A3, and it fired back, by sending over two 120mm rounds over to the Tank Destroyer. The _Magella Assault_ suffered the same fate as the _Littorio_ , not far from it, and the twin shells found their place, on the frontal hull of the HT-01D. The smoking tank finally popped up its own white flag, signaling its disabled state. Fire Team C was then completely decimated by the _Barsele_ 's team.

It was not the time to celebrate, however, because Saori suddenly called in on the radio.

"Guys, we've got another team coming in!" She shouted on the radio. "Two teams, in fact!"

"...Are we seriously getting gank'd by all four Fire Teams...?" Innokenti grumbled, raising his GM to turn over to the other side of the bridge, not realizing the lens flare on the distance. Reacting too late, a long, thin beam made a direct hit on his GM's left wrist, and the kinetic force sent the Ground-Type GM staggering backwards, before falling by the Electromagnetic Pulse produced by the direct hit of the beam round. "... _Whoaaa_... we've got a sniper, guys, watch out..." The downed veteran groaned on the radio.

"Mononobe-senpai, are you alright?!" Kenji frantically yelled in panic, he also turned his Zaku's optics to look at the distance, picking up four more Mobile Suits of Fire Teams D and E. He could also confirm the GM Sniper's location, hunkered down by the treeline across the river. He tensed up when he saw Balthazar's MS-07A Gouf Test-Type aiming its 75mm Gatling Gun directly at him. In a frantic, and panicked motion, he activated his Zaku's jump pack to propel himself to the right.

The rocket boosters of the Zaku II J-Type roared in response, before they fired up to throw the Zaku over to the trees right beside the cliff side he was at. The continuous, nearly endless salvo of 75mm rounds filled Kenji's ears, as the bullets nearly missed his Zaku by only a few inches. With his Zaku downed on the trees, he was at least out of sight from the Gouf, but he'd left the _Barsele_ on the open by the bridge. He could see that the M61A3 was still turning its turret to return fire to the other Fire Teams across the ravine.

Looking at the situation, it was hopeless, Kenji deduced inside his mind.

He only didn't expect that the GM to suddenly fire off a 180x800 millimeter round from its Cannon directly over to the GM Sniper on the other side of the ravine. This shocked the entire members of the match, seeing how the GM earlier was already laying down on the ground. But Kenji could confirm that his senior's RGM-79[G] was not disabled. It was damaged, yes, but it's still moving, and Innokenti hasn't popped up his white flag just yet. Eyes widening, he then also realized that his senior's shot landed on the spot of the sniper, disabling one of the two Mobile Suits of the Orthus Team.

"Wh-what?" Kenji asked to himself, dumbfounded.

"...Got me good, but he hit the shields... the EMP disabled my systems for several seconds, but I'm not out just yet..." Kenya replied on the radio, his GM detaching its shield from its left wrist, and taking aim on the Gouf.

Kenji looked at the probably still-dazedMS-07A, who looked back and forth between the M61A3, and Argus Two's GM Ground-Type, who was preparing to fire, but had to reload his empty 180mm cannon. Innokenti damned himself on the radio, but it was left unheard by Kenji, who was now rushed with adrenaline again after witnessing that Balthazar's Gouf Test-Type was risking it, and instead, aimed for the _Barsele_ , that was still in the middle of rotating its main cannons to fire at the opposing Fire Teams.

The Japanese reaffirmed his grip on the flight sticks, and his feet pressed hard on the pedals. His Zaku responded by jumping out from the trees and it immediately opened fire on the Student Council President's Gouf with its 90mm Zaku Machine Gun on full-auto, in an attempt to take its attention away from their Flag-Vehicle and onto him instead. His suppressing fire worked, and the Gouf fired back on his Zaku instead of the medium tank on the bridge.

After trading some rounds with the MS-07A, Kenji's alarm started to blare on due to the extensive damage his Zaku II'd suffered. He ignored the warnings and focused his sights on the _Barsele_ , instead. The tank has completed its turret rotation, and was aiming at the M353A4-K _Bloodhound_ Hover Truck of Fire Team E. Said armored vehicle responded by also turning its 90mm Auto-Cannon to aim at the M61A3, seeing how its surviving Mobile Suit was occupied by another threat.

The two fired at the same time, but the one who scored the direct hit was Fire Team A's medium tank. It only took one shot from one of its 120mm main bores to push the Bloodhound a few distances back and to be disabled. The Flag-Vehicle of the Ooarai Student Council raised its white flag, and Balthazar had no other choice but to also surrender. Its Gouf stopped firing at Kenji's badly damaged Zaku II, and detached all of its weaponry to the ground, signalling its defeat.

The Japanese sighed in relieve, but then he realized that the last surviving Fire Team was his and Fire Team D, which undoubtedly had the most advanced equipment of all the Fire Teams of the school.

Fire Team D had one M61FSU-3 _Andrea Doria_ Medium Artillery Unit, in which the tank could place extremely accurate shots, even at long ranges, considering its a Mobile Artillery Platform. It was also as well-armored as the M61A3 _Barsele_ , considering it's only a modified version of the medium tank. It's accompanied by Innokenti's former RGM-79 Thunderbolt GM, which had the edge of speed, defense, and firepower. True to the extra thrusters, then twin shields provided by its extra arm binders, and the two Beam Spray Guns, which were certainly not for show. Finally, there was the RGM-79FP GM Striker. A Mobile Suit that's heavily armored, due to its nature of being a close-range/vanguard unit. The long-reaching, twin-beam spear it's holding, and the bigger thruster output made the Striker a true force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

Kenji gulped down, hard. It was not going to be an easy fight after all. He made his Zaku to stand back up to its feet, and regrouped by the edge of the bridge along with Innokenti's RG-79[G]. His senior, also seemed to realize what they're facing, and he promptly detached the extra weight on his back, that was the field ordnance weapons rack, dropped his 180mm Cannon, and held his hands out at his waist. The GM's thigh compartments opened like a pair of holsters, revealing two short beam saber tubes.

The GM Ground-Type pilot silently pulled both of its beam sabers and activated them. Of course, due to the rules of the War Games of using simunitions, what extended out from the tubes were not pink, hot beams, but rather, a simple, long metal stick. The GM entered a stance with two of its physical sabers/batons ready. This prompted Kenji to also pull out his Zaku's Heat-Axe from the back of his Mobile Suit's waist. Naturally, the axe wasn't heated. The tip of the blade only gained an orange color, signifying that the pilot is preparing for close-range combat.

 _Barsele_ moved slightly backwards, it seemed that Mako was also wary on the threats they were fighting.

"...Last stand, Argus Actual...?" Kenya sounded off on the radio.

Kenji blinked twice, recalling what'd happened during the match when his senior called to him. "...Yes, Argus Two. Last stand. It was a good match, no?"

"This is the _Barsele_ ," Miho's voice piped up, the same time, the tank's turrets moved. "We're ready whenever you are."

Fire Team A was ready to move to their enemies. It's just that...

They didn't expect the _Andrea Doria_ to suddenly go up in reverse, as if cowering from their own Fire Team, got its tracks stuck in the mud, overheated its engines, and disabled itself without even fighting back.

Fire Team D alongside Medusa Team lost without even firing a shot.

The alarms blared, signalling the end of the simulation.

* * *

 **Das War Games**

 **A Mobile Suit Gundam and Girls und Panzer Crossover Work of Fiction**

* * *

 **First Simulation II**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

I just rushed this chapter in a day.

Wowie.

Sorry for the crappy story quality. Let me know if the battle looks too dumb.

Update on the Ooarai/Federation War Games Fire Team roster:

* * *

 **Fire Team A / Argus Team**

Combat Units:  
\- 1x M61A3 Barsele Medium Tank [Flag Vehicle] - Miho Nishizumi, Saori Takebe, Yukari Amamiya, Hana Isuzu, _Mako Reizei_  
\- 1x MS-06JC Zaku II J-Type [MS Team Leader] - Kenji Iyamamoto  
\- 1x RGM-79[G] GM Ground-Type [Support - Armor Hunter] - Innokenti Mononobe

* * *

The reason why I didn't try to have the other teams communicating is because of the Minovsky Particles jamming the comms. I've figured they're just gonna be using the local comms to contact each other, and because the focus of the story is Miho's Fire Team. Oh yeah. Less jokes on this chapter because it's a battle chapter, and I kinda want to write seriously(ish), so yeah. Sorry if you came for the laughs but left disappointed.

Again, sorry if the chapter sucks. Rushing 8k words chapter within nine hours is really tasking. I'm tired too.

Prolly should hit the bed.


End file.
